inFAMOUS 2: Spirit of the People
by WhiteZephyr
Summary: Sequel to Hope in the Eyes of the People. The Beast is dead. Cole and Lucy Kuo are alive, along with the people of the world; including Joan MacGrath, daughter of Kessler. But how? And what's with the change in her powers? Plus, who exactly is Lance?
1. Prologue

inFAMOUS – 2:

Spirit of the People

Prologue

Most people, when hurt, express their pain. They scream, they yell, they hurt, or they just open their mouths wordlessly because they can't describe it. I was the latter. I dunno, I just didn't know how to express my pain appropriately when I willingly blew myself to bits so my friends could escape.

I can only imagine the different kinds of pain in the world. Sometimes, its in their heart, and hurting them like that. Other times, its in their minds, bringing untold misery to the people around them (perhaps to make themselves feel better). And then there is physical pain, and though it is probably the one we fear the most, it isn't what can hurt is the most.

Now, the pain I experienced shoulda killed me. It shoulda ripped me apart atom by atom, but it didn't. Lucky me, huh? Oh yeah, real lucky. Now I'm floating on a goddamn piece of the building I just blew up, holding on for dear life for God knows how long. My clothes're wet, I'm starving, and I've been wondering what I'm gonna die from. Hypothermia? Dehydration? Starvation? All of 'em at once? Knowing my luck, a shark'll pop out of the water and swallow me whole. Yay, me.

So you can imagine my surprise when I felt the debris I was on bump something. I crawled from it, expecting to fall into the water (again) and have to use whatever strength I have left to crawl back on that debris, if I could find it. My eyes were closed, only because I didn't have the strength to open them again.

Instead of water, I touched some sort of mushy grass, which I could only decide was moss. It had better've been moss, anyway. I gripped it in my hands and crawled onto what I hoped was shore, and I quickly decided that I would never, ever, ever, ever, ever, _ever,_ swim again.

I managed to get whatever water was in my lungs out, and coughed because of the taste. Ugh! You try swallowing salt water!

I felt hands on me almost immediately. They turned around until I was lying on my back.

"What happened?" I heard a woman's voice asked.

I opened my eyes, finally finding the strength, but it seemed I'd taken that strength from my "speaking" reserves. I couldn't say a thing.

The people who stood over me was a woman with pale skin, black hair and dark eyes, matching her suit almost perfectly. The other was an older man with dark skin, white-grey hair and glasses, wearing casual clothing.

"We should get her to my lab!" the man said. "Before she dies of hypothermia, starvation, dehydration, or something else!"

Now this guy was talkin'. I was already liking these guys.

They helped me to my feet and practically carried me to a building not that far away. I woulda walked myself, but I couldn't seem to move my legs. The woes of having no power, no?

They laid me on a bed and were quick to put an IV in my arm. I was gagging at the feeling of the needle under my skin, but I couldn't move to remove it. Oh man, I hope I'm not getting into anything over my head! I thought, closing my eyes. Pfft! I doubt it! My adventure's done! … Isn't it?


	2. Marias

Chapter One:

Marias

It was several days later, almost a week, when I was finally able to get that damned IV out of my body. That was when the old man realized that I didn't like needles.

After he took every needle out of my body, he held out his hand. "My name's Dr. Sebastian Wolfe. My friend, Lucy Kuo, helped me get you here."

I took his hand and shook it. "Joan. Joan MacGrath. Nice to meetcha, Doc."

He took his hand back, giving me a curious look. "MacGrath? That's strange."

"What's so strange about it?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Never mind. Work stuff."

I nodded. Coincidence? I think not. "Where am I?"

"You're in New Marias. You floated here on a piece of debris. We don't know where from, though."

I nodded again. "That sounds about right." I forced myself out of the bed and stood, stretching. "Ugh, my back!"

"Should you really be getting up?" Wolfe asked, wondering whether-or-not he should try to force me back into the bed.

I waved him off. "I'm fine. I just need some food to re-fuel, and I'm heading back to Empire City!"

His expression suddenly turned mournful. "I'm sorry, but Empire City's gone."

"What?" I gasped. "Oh, no, I've travelled into the future!"

"No, you haven't!" Wolfe said, quickly reassuring me. "Empire City was destroyed by the Beast a few days ago. He's stronger than we anticipated, but we have a way to bring him down."

"The Beast…" I muttered. "Oh man, it's too soon for him to be here!"

Wolfe gave me a "look". "You know about the Beast?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I only heard Kessler talk about it a few hundred times."

"Kessler?" Wolfe took a good look at me, studying me. "Ah, now I know why you felt familiar to me."

"Yeah?"

"You must be Kayce, the girl Kessler had around his facility when I was undercover in the First Sons with the NSA."

My eyebrow arched. "You knew Kessler? And me?"

"Yes, I did, though I never really got the chance to meet you. I only glanced you a few times, as you were trying to escape." Wolfe smiled. "You were very well-practiced."

"Yeah, thanks."

Wolfe could tell I was a bit uncomfortable, so he decided to change the subject. "What happened to you?"

"I blew up a DARPA facility outside of Empire City and found myself stuck full of needles in New Marias," I answered, smirking.

"You blew it up?" Wolfe repeated.

"Yep. They had someone I knew inside, and I got shot a few times, so I stayed behind to blow it up."

Wolfe nodded. "Yes. When we got you here, Lucy and I could tell that you had lost a lot of blood, and we had to operate to get those bullets out of you. Thankfully, you made a full recovery. And in no time flat."

"It's a talent." I put a hand on my gut absently, where I'd been shot three times with bullets infused with quicksilver. Ouch.

For the next two days, Wolfe showed me around New Marias while keeping us away from these anti-Conduit guys called the Militia, led by Joseph Bertrand III. I noticed almost immediately that the people of New Marias were not only afraid of the "deviants" (Conduits), but the Militia themselves. Random people were accused of being deviants and arrested by the Militia, or worse. Wolfe explained that the cops were imprisoned or too chicken-shit to come out of hiding and do anything about the Militia.

Wolfe let me stay with a friend of his, a guy named Garrett, because he didn't really have much room for me at his lab. I got along with the guy, but mostly avoided him. I was healed, but I needed my strength back, and it was best people stay away from me until then.

_Okay Militia,_ I thought, smirking. Get ready. _You're gonna be burnt to a crisp when I'm done with you idiots._


	3. Burn

Chapter Two:

Burn

I didn't get any stronger until the Beast was dead, which kinda sucked. I'd heard that Cole was in town, along with Zeke and two other Conduits, but I hadn't run into them. One of the Conduits was dead after sacrificing herself so Cole could get the RFI powered-up, but the Beast was dead, and Cole and the other Conduit were miraculously alive.

Wolfe had died several weeks before the Beast reached New Marias. Killed by the Militia, I'd heard. I was sure his death had been avenged, and I was still kinda sour that I hadn't been there to protect the old man.

From what I'd heard, Zeke tweaked the RFI just enough to take massive amounts of a Conduits energy instead of killing all Conduits outright. When he wasn't such a stupid-head, Zeke could be pretty smart. Cole was hailed as a hero throughout New Marias, but people outside the city believed it was the government who beat the Beast. Assholes. They didn't deny, nor confirm what the people thought.

I set up some sandbags outside the apartment I'd gotten. I had a steady job working at a garage fixing cars, so I could pay for it. I swear, look at your taxes and you won't call the politicians "cheap" anymore. Garrett would check in on me every once-in-a-while, but I always proved I was fine. Plus, the apartment structure was surrounded by ten foot high walls and there were no windows facing the backyard, so it was perfect for me. No one came back here.

I tried a few times to activate my power, but I only succeeded in making myself feel stupid. Nothing was working, and I was pissed-off about it.

"Stupid friggin' powers!" I seethed. "Why the hell aren't they working…? They were fine before!" I sighed. "I'll never be able to help Cole with the Ice People if I can't get 'em going!"

I came to a realization then: he still didn't know I was alive. It was near impossible to find him, since New Marias was a big city and he and Zeke had tons of different hang-outs around the city. My parkour was fine; it was just the issue of finding him, and unless I was being mugged when he was in the area or I get some attention with my Conduit powers, I wouldn't be able to tell him that I'm alive.

"I need to figure out how to activate my powers again…" I looked at my right hand, and smiled. "Alec said that my powers were activated by survival last time. Maybe it's the same case?"

Brilliant, eh? _Go looking for trouble! I know that there're some remnants of the Militia around, but I don't know where they are… So I'll head to Flood Town and see what those Ice People can do!_

When I got to Flood Town, I think I'd almost reconsidered looking for trouble, just because of the fact that I felt I had too many near-death experiences already. Unfortunately, no such luck.

As soon as I stepped foot in Flood Town, Ice People appeared on the roofs and aimed their guns at me. Looks like Cole hasn't completely taken control of this area yet! I ran forward, knowing that if I ran back, I'd be better for target-practice.

"Fire!" they yelled.

_Yeah! I wish I friggin' had it!_ I bolted around, trying my best to dodge bullets by swerving around and taking corners sharply. Whenever there was water, I'd look for a mini island of junk to jump onto so the water wouldn't slow me down.

_Great! Just perfect! Where the hell's my fire now that I need it to survive?_ I skidded to a halt as an Ice Person landed in front of me gracefully. I nearly crashed into him, but as soon as I stopped I backed _way_ off.

I gulped as he raised his gun and pointed it at me. The other Ice People did the same, blocking every escape route I could think of. I took a deep breath, and ducked when I thought it was the best time to do so.  
>Perfect.<p>

The Ice Person standing in front of me flew forwards, smashing into three of his buddies behind me. Two more went down before I'd even thought to stand up. And out of nowhere, Cole MacGrath and his Conduit friend were standing beside me, their hands raised and holding their powers in their palms (electricity and ice, respectively).

"You okay?" Cole asked absently, focusing on the Ice People.

I nodded, and then realized he was facing away from me. "Yeah. Just caught in another one of my stupid ideas."

"You should be more careful," Cole said, and electrified several different Ice People at once, his blue lightning jumping everywhere.

For some reason, it felt like my palms were heating up. I looked at them and saw silver fire starting up my arms. _Silver? But my fire's red! And why is it coming now?_

Luckily, besides the colour, nothing had really changed about it. It felt so familiar, and I wanted to jump up and down with joy, but we were kinda in a sticky situation.

Naturally, I upped my flames. They formed the familiar "V" shape on my back and extended to my shoulders, which connected with the flames on my arms. _Awesome_.

"Hey, Cole," I said, "I got an idea to get rid of these guys quick."

"What'd that be?" he asked.

I grabbed a hold of his left hand in my right. "Just release your electricity, and don't stop."

We both looked at each other, the confusion apparent on his face as soon as he saw me.

"Do it!" I ordered.

Cole listened, though I could tell he was hesitant. He released his lightning as I did my fire, and the two powers combined together. A group of Ice People got hit by the combined powers, and shot off in all directions as it hit.

"Hey! You too!" I called to the other Conduit.

She shot some ice shards into our already powerful combination, and the powers sought out the remaining Ice People like heat- (or cold) –seeking missiles. The Ice People hit shot straight into the air, while the ones who didn't ran for it.

I blocked the sun from my view and looked up at the Ice People still in the air. "Huh. Shoulda attatched explosives to 'em. Woulda been nice to see some fireworks."

When I deactivated my flames, I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Joan?"

I looked at Cole, grinning. "You're a really hard guy to find, you know?"

"You're alive…?"

"I should hope so! Unless those Ice People just got their asses kicked by a ghost, which would be super-embarrassing for 'em!"

I really didn't expect Cole to grab me and hug me. I mean, how do you react to someone you care about being alive when you thought they were dead? My head immediately thought of Dana, who had tackled me in a bear-hug when I'd first met her as Joan.

"Hey!" I gasped. "I… can't… breathe… dammit!"

After a few more seconds of suffocation, Cole finally let me go and let me breathe. "I thought you were dead, Joan!"

"So did I." I smiled and rubbed the back of my head. "I mean, you don't really expect to still be breathing when you blow yourself up, right?" I glanced behind him and saw Lucy Kuo staring at me. "Lucy? You're the other Conduit I've been hearing about?"

She nodded. She'd really changed from the last time I'd seen her a few weeks ago; instead of raven-black hair, it had a blue tint to it; her arms looked like ice, and her outfit had definitely changed from the corporate-looking woman to a care-free kinda person.

"Woah! So you've had a Conduit gene, huh?"

"I'm actually more interested in how you have powers, and how Cole knows you," she said, smiling sweetly and crossing her arms.

_Woah, hold up a second! Is she doing the whole, "he's-my-guy-so-stay-away-from-him" thing? Is she jealous of me and Cole?_ I looked at Cole and made a face. _Ew!_

"What's with the face?" Cole asked.

I shook my head. "Nothin'." I looked back to Lucy. "I never introduced myself earlier, kinda because you took-off before I woke up." I held out my hand. "I'm Joan. Joan MacGrath! Pleased t' meetcha!"

Lucy looked a teeny bit startled, though she was good at hiding it. "MacGrath? Are you Cole's sister or something?" she asked as she shook my hand, which immediately warmed in my burning grasp.

"Nah." I smiled, but Cole looked like he wanted to explain it himself.

He cleared his throat as Lucy and I released each other's hands. "Well, um, Lucy, she's my… uh…" He looked at me, wondering if he should actually explain it all. I nodded, and gave him a look that said, "just-tell-her-or-I-will". "You know about Kessler, right?"

Lucy nodded, giving Cole her full attention (and I mean her _full_ attention).

"Well, Kessler turned out to be me from an alternate timeline or something. He failed in defeating the Beast, and his wife and kids died because of his mistake. So Kessler came back in time and created the Ray Sphere so that I could get my powers and he could mould me into the person he couldn't be." He paused, letting Lucy take in the new information. "During its production, Kessler had another child, and used her to become a Conduit in the same way you were made into one, Lucy. Only she went through it for the entire eighteen years of her life before she finally escaped, but only just as I activated the Ray Sphere."

Lucy looked to me, then to Cole, and back to me. "So… you're…?"

I held up a hand in greeting. "Technically, I'm Cole's kid, since he and Kessler are the same person. But yeah, everyone knows me, or everyone _knew_ me in Empire City, as Kessler's daughter."

"And you went through that for your entire life?" Lucy exclaimed.

I shrugged. "No biggy. It's behind me now, and I'd like it to stay that way."

"Joan," Cole said, "what's with your eyes?"

I shrugged again. "I know they were green before, but maybe it's for the same reason that my fire's silver now. I kinda preferred it as red, but I like the "eerie" kinda tone to this colour."

Cole grinned and clapped me on the back. "Zeke's gonna _freak_! He hasn't stopped sulking since you blew up that DARPA facility!"

From the look I got from Lucy, I decided that she'd want to hear about that soon. _But not today,_ I thought, smiling and letting Cole lead me around. _Now, I wanna just be here with everyone. I wanna forget that I nearly died, and I want things to go back to the way they were, with me, Alec, Cole, and Zeke. Who knows? It'll probably be cool to have Lucy around!_

I suddenly grinned. _Cool… She's an ice Conduit, and it'd be cool to have her around… hehe._


	4. Greeting

Chapter Three:

Greeting

Cole and I climbed up the building he'd led me to while Lucy simply flew up. I didn't want to take any chances with my powers, so I decided to be careful and not over-use 'em too much. Probably the best idea I've had since… Well, it's the best idea I've ever had.

"Hey, Zeke!" Cole called.

There wasn't an answer.

"He must be out…" I said.

"I don't know why, though. He should be hanging around here…" Cole looked at the couch, which had been facing away from us. "Oh, here he is. _Another_ hangover from _another_ party."

"Hey, people are happy to be alive! I'd join in, but I'm kinda under-aged…" Cole glared at me. "I'm just joking!"

"Hey… can you guys be quiet?" Zeke asked groggily. "My head feels like its gonna split a thousand ways at once."

"You know, that was kinda what it was like when I exploded myself, only it may have been my entire body. I dunno, I was either dead or unconscious when that DARPA facility went _kaput_!"

Zeke peeked over the couch. His eyebrows shot up in surprise (seeing as I couldn't see his eyes from under his sunglasses). "Joan? You're alive, girl!"

"And kickin' uncle Zeke!"

Zeke tackled me in a bear hug. No, he wasn't as strong as Cole, but the stench of his clothes and the alcohol on his breath was enough to make me gag.

"Three words buddy!" I choked out. "Get new clothes!"

Zeke finally released me, grinning wildly. "Man, Alec woulda been ecstatic!"

"Speaking of which, where _is_ invisaboy?" I asked, dusting off my clothes.

"He headed outta Empire City as soon as the quarantine was down," Zeke explained. "Said he was gonna head to Italy or somethin'."

"That _bastard_! _Italy_?" I exploded. "What could he _possibly_ want in _Italy_?"

"He was gonna see if anyone needed his skills there," Cole said, squeezing my shoulder. "He moved to the other side of the world so he could protect people."

"Hope the guy's okay," Zeke said. "Usin' the RFI killed a few Conduits around the world."

"Who's Alec?" Lucy asked.

I just realized she was there. I'd totally forgotten. Me and my attention span, eh?

"Alec's a friend from Empire City," I told her. "He helped Cole and I beat up Sasha and Alden, and then helped us get Cole outta that DARPA facility I blew up." I rubbed the back of my head. "He was the one who mainly helped me to further my powers, and he told me that if I covered myself in fire I'd most likely die."

"Wait, you knew that you'd die?" Cole exclaimed. "We all could've gotten away!"

I shook my head. "I got shot three times in the gut with quicksilver bullets, and unless someone distracted the DARPA agents, everyone'd get shot in the head. I did what was necessary, and it was my choice." I grinned. "So, you can't kick my ass because I came back!"

"Yeah, but you have me a friggin' heart attack!"

I stuck my tongue out. "Well, you seem fine, for a light bulb!"

I heard Lucy chuckle behind me. "You're still gonna call me that?" Cole asked, almost annoyed.

"Of course! I'm gonna put it on every poster around this town! Cole MacGrath; light bulb man!"

Cole whipped some lightning at my head, but I ducked. He shot another bolt at my legs, and I automatically back-flipped. When I steadied myself, I grinned.

"Woah! That was cool!" I said excitedly.

"I never knew you were so flexible," Zeke said, grinning along with me.

"I didn't know either!" I laughed. "Then again, I didn't bother to find out! I mean, I was invulnerable to bullets, remember? Except the quicksilver ones. Those were just plain evil."

Cole nodded. "Yeah, I can imagine."

I stayed with Cole, Lucy and Zeke for a few hours, just catching up with them. Cole and Zeke couldn't believe that I'd gotten a job, but Lucy was happy for me. We took turns glaring at the guys, and it was fun. I also found out that Cole and Lucy were dating!

_I'm happy for him,_ I thought. He's finally moved on. _It's nice to see _him_ happy, for once._

Eventually, I stood up. "Well, I gotta get to work. If I don't, I'll be late!"

"Already?" Cole checked his watch. "Wow. I'd better get to patrolling!"

I hugged Zeke, Cole and Lucy. "It was nice to talk. I missed it."

Cole put a hand on my shoulder. "Come by any time, Jo. Have fun at work!"

I nodded and leaped off of the roof, activating my fire. Without my wanting it to, it spread all over my body. I half-expected myself to blow up again, but I didn't. I was flying much faster with it covering my body, instead of when it was just in my palms and feet back in Empire City.

I dropped onto the roof of the garage I was working at. It was called "Gary's Garage", but everyone just called it "Gary's". The guy who owned it was Gary's son, and was the one who hired me.

I climbed down from the roof and entered the garage, but bumped into someone. Well, someone's chest, to be more precise. I was staring at a guy's chest. I had to tilt my neck back to look at his face.

The guy I bumped into had these really dark blue eyes that looked at me questioningly. He had the usual guy hairstyle these days; his roots were black, which showed that he had natural black hair, but as his hair extended it turned blonde, somewhere in-between dull and bright.

I stepped to my right to let him by at the same time he stepped to his left. I frowned, and stepped right again so I wouldn't be in the way of the door, but he had stepped to his left at the same time again. I gritted my teeth and grabbed the sides of his arms, then switched us places.

"Sorry for bumping into you," I said, and hurried to get to my job.


	5. Lance

Chapter Four:

Lance

When I'd gotten back from work, I'd collapsed on my bed and slept for at least ten hours. I woulda slept in more, but someone broke down my door.

My head jerked upwards. I couldn't think of what to do, since I'd gotten so used to not having any powers. By the time I could think, a hand was clasped over my mouth.

"Please be quiet!" someone begged. "Please! Just for a second!"

I was struggling a little, but I think "please" was, indeed, the magic word. I heard some people stampede outside, but they didn't come into my apartment. From the sound of it, they were squealing fangirls.

When the sounds faded, the guy gently released me. I used that as my chance. I hit him in the sternum with my right elbow and swung around, bringing my right fist into the left side of his ribs.

Momentarily stunned, he gasped. I thought I may have hit him too hard, but then decided it was only his ego.

When he looked up at me, being poised and ready to give him a major ass-kicking for breaking-and-entering, I felt like kicking him in the face.

It was the same guy I'd bumped into when I was going to work!

_Did he follow me? And what was with those damned fangirls?_

"Who are you?" I asked, my tone demanding.

"As soon… as I can breathe… I'll tell you!" he wheezed. "Damn! That… hurt!"

"I hope it did! You don't just break-and-enter!" I jabbed his chest with my finger. "Did you follow me?"

He got his breath back. "N-No! I didn't!" He held his hands up, trying not to appear hostile. "I'm sorry for barging in, but I was being attacked by crazy people!"

"Why?"

"Let's just say they really like me, and leave it at that, okay?" I frowned, but nodded. He sighed in relief. "I'm really sorry. My name's Lance Grey." He held out a hand.

I glared at his hand, but took it and shook it. "Joan."

"Just Joan?"

"Just Joan to _you_."

He shrugged, taking back his hand. "That's fair." Lance smiled sheepishly. "Um… How can I properly apologize to you?"

"You can start by getting the hell outta my room!" I snapped, shoving him outside my room. "And then get your ass outta my apartment!"

"W-Wait a sec!" he pleaded, turning around suddenly.

I had been pushing on him, and with his sudden change in position, I fell into him, my arms extending by his sides and my face planted into his chest… again.

I couldn't tell if my face was on fire or not, but it sure felt like it. For several seconds, we just stood there, totally stunned. And then I lurched backwards, at least three metres from him.

A few more seconds of awkward silence later, Lance cleared his throat. "I'll, um… I'll leave if you want me to… But I kinda wanna apologize appropriately for breaking-in…"

"What idea do you have?" I asked. I just wanted him out, but I sure as hell didn't want to use my fire for something as stupid as this.

"Dinner?" he asked suddenly.

_Why is my face burning? It's not even on fire, for God sakes!_ "Why?"

"It's not often I get to take a girl who doesn't know everything about me out."

"So breaking-and-entering is more often than that?"

One of Lance's eyebrows rose. "You don't like me very much, do you?"

"Not at all."

He rubbed the back of his head. "One dinner. I'm paying. Tomorrow night?"

I very, very, very, very, very, _very_ hesitantly answered. "… Okay."

"Great!" He gave me a thumbs-up. "I'll pick you up at eight!"

He left then, and I smashed my head against the wall. _What the hell did I just agree too? Ugh! Persistent bastard!_

"What, you don't enjoy the food?" Lance asked over his spaghetti.

_I love the food! It's just _you_ I hate!_ I thought, glaring at him. I think the people around us were starting to feel uncomfortable with all the "hate" vibes I was giving off.

"It's fine," I replied sourly. "I just think it's odd that I got food with a guy who broke into my house and could've potentially assaulted me."

"You're still on about that?" Lance smiled, something that was really starting annoy me. "You really can't let things go, can you?"

"It was seven hours ago!" I hissed. "It's not like it's ancient history!"

He shrugged. "I said I was sorry. And I'm trying to make up for it. You can really get pissed when you want to, you know that?"

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is; when I had a hand over your mouth, I thought I could feel it burning and I smelt smoke, but I realized that the smoke was probably someone's fire and the heat on my hand was your face, which was pretty red." He poked my head. "About as red as your hair."

I think I was pouting at this point. "I don't see how that's relevant to anything." I sighed, crossing my arms and resting them on the table. "So, why exactly were those girls chasing you? And why are you wearing a hat and those shades? I can't even have a proper conversation without getting distracted by them."

"I'm actually surprised," Lance said, grinning. "I even introduced myself to you, and you don't know who the hell I am. Most girls would be flattered to have dinner with me."

"Well, I'm not most girls. Far from it, in fact. Now spill."

"Okay." He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. "I'm the musician Lance Grey, and I'm told that I'm pretty popular these days. I came to New Marias to escape all the crazy fans." He smiled. "But I guess they caught up with me."

"Or you have other 'fans'."

He tilted his head. "What's with that look?"

I chuckled. "Funny that I've never heard of you."

"Well, if you listened to the radio, you would have."

"That's just it; I don't listen to the radio. I hate all of the channels."

"Really?" He leaned forward in interest. "Then what'dya listen to?"

"None of your business, Grey."

"That's cold."

I'd prefer that you'd been burned, but I can't exactly correct you without a reason… "Whatever. Are you done?"

He glanced at his spaghetti. "No…" Lance looked at my plate. "Wow! You ate it all!"

"That means I'm waitin' on you, so hurry it up, please."


	6. Iron

Chapter Five:

Iron

"Hey! Jo! Why the hell're you workin' so slow?" Gary's son, Vic, yelled.

"I'm tired," I answered, yawning. "I had a crazy night."

"I don't care!" I really, really, _really_ felt like burning his face off. "Get workin'! We have deadlines to meet!"

As he walked away, I frowned. "Yessir."

_Thank-you very much, Lance. You kept me up by throwing pebbles at my window. What the hell was that for? _

I remembered last night, and not very fondly. After dropping me off, he came back to my place and threw pebbles at the window. It was open, so some of them landed in my room. I went to the window and it looked like he was going to say something, but I didn't give him a chance, and slammed the window shut. He continued to throw pebbles for _hours_, until he finally gave up and left. Unfortunately, he'd kept me awake. Now, it felt like I was ready to go on a murderous rampage.

My cell phone rang. I wiped my hands of the grease on a well-used cloth and answered it.

"Yo."

"Hey, Jo. It's Cole."

I grinned. "Well, it took you long enough to call me. What's up?"

"I, um…" I heard him sigh. "I need some help over here."

"Did you piss Lucy off?"

"No." He hesitated. "Well, Lucy's gone to the NSA to officially resign her position as an agent, so I'm kinda overwhelmed a bit. I was gonna assault a Militia base in Flood Town, but…"

"But you may need some back-up just in case," I finished for him. "Hard to believe that you feel overwhelmed."

"What can I say? I'm used to having Lucy at my back." He paused. "So… what do you think?"

"You know I wanna, but I'm working right now." I smiled. "Unless you want to call in a family emergency. It's not exactly a lie."

He sighed. "When do you get off work?"

I looked at my phone, checking the clock. "Five."

"And it's three now…" For several seconds, I didn't hear a thing. "I can wait. It doesn't look like they're going anywhere."

"Gimme a call if they're on the move," I told him. "Just wait for a bit longer, and I'll be there as fast as I can."

"Got it," Cole replied. "Have fun."

I smirked. "As much as is possible when working for a cranky guy who isn't even old."

"Who pissed in his Corn Flakes?"

"I dunno, but I hope they're laughing their asses off."

"Okay. Well, see ya, Joan."

I nodded. "You too, Cole."

I shut my phone and slid it back into my overalls. Looked like Cole was used to having a partner now, and I was definitely happy that he wouldn't be jumping head-first into Militia territory without someone.

Finally, at five, I punched-in my time card and left work after changing into my normal clothing; a black T-shirt with a white design on my sides that kinda looked like a shark's dorsal fin, only skinnier; a black wristband on my left arm; a black windbreaker with an added black hoodie; a white scarf; a white messenger bag; blue jeans, and finally, black shoes with white designs. I looked a lot like I had in Empire City.

I found a back-alley and climbed onto a building. When I reached the roof, I leaped off of it and set myself on fire. I streaked through the sky towards flood town, going as fast as I dared. I didn't want to over-do myself.

I saw Cole hanging out at the old Rebel hideout where he, Zeke, and a guy named Laroche used to plan attacks against the Militia. I banked right and gradually angled myself downwards. Cole saw me coming, and waved. I waved back, and slowed. I turned off my fire just as I reached the tip of the building and let myself fall, absorbing the fall with my knees and rolling to lose the momentum.

I stood up in front of Cole. "So, how was my entrance? Do I still got it?"

"I think you have to work on it a bit." He let me hit his arm playfully. "I have a gift for you before we head out."

Cole handed me a cylindrical thing wrapped in gift paper. I ripped it open and I think I almost jumped for joy. Almost.

"My nodachi?" I exclaimed. "I thought it was gone! I mean, it was strapped to my back when I blew up, so how…?"

"Zeke and I found it washed up on shore," Cole explained. "From what Lucy said, it wasn't far from where she and Wolfe found you. We took the liberty of tweaking it a bit."

"In what way?" I asked.

He took the nodachi out of its scabbard. "The grip is a bit longer, giving you a bit more control over the blade. And we added a new feature…" He held out his palm, inviting me to give him the blade. I reluctantly handed it over. "Check this out!"

He pulled his wrist back at a point on the handle, and the blade instantly was engulfed in fire. And it was silver fire, too.

"Woah…" I muttered as I marvelled at it.

"I didn't forget that time when you set it on fire," Cole said. "I didn't chew you out about it because I really didn't feel like it, and since I knew you'd just do it again. So, instead, Zeke and I modified it so you can do it anytime. You don't even need to fill it up with anything."

I smiled. "Thanks, Cole. I'll kick serious ass with this thing as a proper thank-you."

"That's all I can ask."

I slid the nodachi into a holder that I'd found on my messenger bag, fitting it in perfectly. "Now, about those Militia…"

He grinned. "It's time to say 'hello'."

"Their positions regularly change," Cole said, pointing to a few Militia in the warehouse from the rooftop we were spying from. "But they always change in the same pattern. If we take out a few Militia quietly and disguise ourselves, we can get the advantage and steal information on the whereabouts of their other bases."

I nodded. "Okay. But, have you ever seen a female Militia?"

Cole rubbed his chin. "Good point. Okay, how about you distract 'em, and I'll take one out and disguise myself?"

"Sounds good." I grinned. "Do I get to take some out?"

"You've got to get captured…"

I rolled my eyes. "Of course I do. But if you do the whole damsel in distress thing with me, I'm gonna kick your ass."

"Nice to see you haven't changed."

I grinned. "Let's go!"

Cole flanked their position. I found a gigantic pipe to walk on, balancing myself. When I saw Cole wave, I nodded, hoping he saw.

I stood up. "_HEY_! MILITIA!"

It's so friggin' weird to see all of these heads turn in your direction, but they did it, and I couldn't help but chuckle a teeny bit.

"I HEARD THAT THE REDNECK LIBRARY BURNT DOWN! BOTH BOOKS WERE LOST, AND ONE WAS _ALMOST_ COLOURED IN! TOO_ BAD_, GUYS!"

"Get the deviant!" one roared.

I stuck my tongue out and jumped off the pipe, running at them. They fired their guns, but I remembered one of the powers I'd used in Empire City; a fire shield, similar to Cole's electric shield. I held up my hand and a silver stream of flame erupted from it, stopping the bullets and melting them before they reached me.

Once I reached one of the Militia, I switched my shield of my left hand and drew my nodachi, slicing his chest. I quickly moved to another Militia man, who tried to hit me with the butt of his gun. I blocked some bullets and just barely moved out of the way of the gun, and quickly stabbed him with my blade. _One more Militia, and I'll pretend to get hurt!_ I kicked the Militia body from my nodachi and brought it around, slicing one last Militia guy in the gut. I brought down my shield, grinning like a maniac, and mentally beat myself.

A super-gigantic Militia guy with muscles on his muscles was packin' a machine gun. And, being that it was my luck, it was aimed at me.

"Oh, shit," I muttered.

The obviously-compensating-for-something Militia guy fired. I felt my flesh tear and my blood run like a river as I was tossed from my feet by the sheer force of the bullets. When I finally hit the ground, my blood was streaked everywhere. I coughed some up, ignoring the bitter taste.

_W-Why aren't I healing?_ I thought frantically. _Did I lose some of my powers too?_

"Deviant's been terminated," the machine-gun Militia stated.

"Naw, she's still breathin'," another said, grabbing one of my arms.

"Get 'er tied up and put 'er with the rest o' them hostages," the first instructed. "We want 'er alive, boys."

They roughly dragged me into the warehouse, throwing me to the floor in front of the horrified and scared hostages. I coughed up more blood, my breathing becoming raspy and my eyes becoming cloudy. The Militia turned my body over so I rested on my back and poured ice-cold water on my face, my eyes involuntarily shooting open from the shock.

"That'll keep 'er up!" one of the Militia said, his buddies laughing.

I tried to sit up, but only got as far as resting on my elbows. I brought an arm to my stomach, feeling the warm blood in-between my fingers, which were growing ever colder.

"A-Are you all right?" a woman asked, her tone worried.

"I've… had worse!" I assured her. "Actually… no. This is… probably the… worst I've had."

"Can you get over here?" she asked.

I looked at her. She had really dark black hair, with very nice blue eyes that seemed depthless. Easily in her forties.

"I… can try!" I used my elbows to drag my body over to her, my body aching all the way.

She, like the rest of the hostages, weren't tied up. But their fear made them stay. I mean, it's an army of rednecks with guns. Who wouldn't? I mean, people without superpowers, of course.

"H-How many times did you get shot?" she asked, unzipping my jacket and pulling my shirt up a bit (not too high).

"I didn't count," I admitted. "It was… a machine gun. Who… would?"

Her brow furrowed. "It's a miracle you're alive—even talking! These wounds're deep, and are going to require some surgery to get out."

"I was… afraid of that." I cringed as my gut started throbbing. "Ugh…"

_Note to self: _never_ get shot again. Quicksilver is no longer your only weakness!_

"Don't worry… about me!" I told her doing my best to smile. "Cole's… coming!"

"No one here has lost that hope," she replied, smiling.

I nodded. "In three… two… one…"

Right one queue, there was screaming and shooting not far from us. Cole probably hadn't seen me get shot, or else he would've jumped right into the attack. I coughed a bit more as some of the hostages got up and started their escape.

The woman put one of my arms around her shoulders and picked me up.

"W-What're you—?"

"I've got to get you out of here," she said, interrupting me. "I'll treat you for your wounds, since I'm a doctor."

"But—!"

"One more word, and I'll tape your mouth shut," she warned.

My mouth automatically snapped shut. I actually wouldn't be surprised it she were somebody's mother… And I would respect her child for living through the fear I felt only a taste of at that moment.

Eventually, we reached a suburban area out of Flood Town. She told me that we were almost to her clinic when Cole landed in front of us. He was breathing hard, his eyes worried.

"Joan!" he gasped. "Oh God, Jo! What the hell _happened_?"

"J-Just… a flesh wound!" I replied. "Only a scratch… I swear!"

He came over to me and bent low, checking my gut. "This needs to get checked out!"

"I was just taking her!" the woman explained. "I'm a doctor. I was taking her to my clinic."

"Thank-you," Cole said. "I'll carry her. Lead the way!"

The woman handed me over to Cole, who scooped me into his arms and followed the woman hurriedly. I coughed up some more blood, and felt my eyes start to close.

"Hey… Cole?" I said.

"Yeah, Joan?"

"I-I'm kinda cold…"

"Listen to me, Joan!" he said, his tone quickly switching to concerned. "Don't you dare say that! I want you to keep those eyes wide open, and stay alive! I'm not going to lose you a second time!" He pulled me closer to him in an effort to keep my body warm. "I won't let anyone else die!"

I chuckled. "Cole, you… big softie. Lucy's… gotcha whipped!"

"Shut up."


	7. Concert

Chapter Six:

Concert

The woman, whose name was Helen, operated on me for a good three hours. I'd lost a ton of blood, enough for her to ask Cole if I could get a proper transplant. Cole agreed, but on the condition that he do the transplant. I guess he thought that it'd be better if, since I was technically his daughter, he gave the blood.

It turned out that we were the same blood type, too. Type O, which was a rare blood type. I thought it was pretty cool.

The weeks passed without an incident with the Militia. Anything that did start to turn up, Cole and Lucy took care of it immediately.

So, once more, I was forced to stay in bed by Cole. And I wouldn't be able to watch T.V., since he sucked all the juice outta it.

"That's it!" I muttered. "I'm putting a bucket of water over my door!"

I filled a metal bucket full of freezing cold water and attached it to a rope, then looped the rope through a metal pulley that had come with the apartment. I set a book precariously on top of the end of the rope as a last adjustment. Now, if Cole came in, he would open the door, knock the book off of the rope, the bucket would fall, hit the door, and angle perfectly onto his head, soaking him from head-to-toe.

"Hehe, I'm a friggin' genius!" I cheered, and then fell over my couch. "Ow…"

I got up and rubbed my gut. I'd been forced to be stitched up, which hadn't made me very happy at all. Actually, I was kicking and screaming, but Cole used the butt of my nodachi to "keep me quiet" (he _knocked_ _me_ _out_).

I grinned and took out my cell phone. It was five-thirty, and Cole would probably be dropping in at six.

"Surprise, Cole," I said, smiling. "Eat it."

I heard some pebbles hit my window. I groaned and went to it, pulled back the curtains and glared.

"Hey!" I heard Lance yell, waving.

I pulled up the window. "What?"

"Well, I was gonna come in and knock, but I thought it'd be weird…"

"_This_ is weird!" I snapped.

"Right." Lance rubbed the back of his head. "Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to go to a concert with me?"

One of my eyebrows rose. "New Marias is getting back into their groove, huh?"

"Yeah."

I rubbed my forehead. "Who's playing?"

"Can I tell you up there?"

I shrugged. "I guess you can come up."

He grinned and ran into the complex. I shook my head and looked at the door—and realized that the trap I'd set for Cole would be backfired onto Lance.

Oh, goody.

I tore the book off of the rope and grabbed the rope before the bucket fell on my head. Then I let it fall so I could catch it. I hid the bucket behind my back just as Lance opened the door.

"Hey!" he greeted.

"Hey," I replied.

"Can I… um, come in?"

I shuffled to the side, hiding the bucket of water. He didn't seem to notice, and gleefully entered. When he passed me, I shoved the bucket of water into a corner and turned back to him. He wasn't really paying attention—he was too busy snooping through my things.

"What're you doing?" I snapped.

"I'm looking for clues," he answered, taking a pillow off of my couch and looking underneath it. "You're hard to figure out, so I'm looking for clues."

I crossed my arms. "In what way am I hard to figure out?"

"Well, you don't like the stations on the radio, and you would rather shut me out than listen to me…"

"That's because you're throwing rocks at my window!"

He looked at me and grinned. I hated how tall he was; it made me feel too short, and I'm 5"7'!

"Well, It'd be awkward if I just knocked on your door."

"It was awkward when you threw rocks at my window!" I sighed. "You're such an idiot!"

"Well, this idiot has concert tickets, and wants to bring you along." He leaned over so our faces were level. "If that makes me an idiot, then so be it."

I gulped and backed away instantly.

"So, will you please come with me?"

I cleared my throat. "W-Who's playing?"

"It's a surprise!" he said, standing tall again. "I think I figured out what music you like!"

_Oh, please. No one knows what music I like. Not even Cole, Alec, Zeke, or even Dana. I don't even think about it!_

"Are you willing to test out your theory?" I asked, smirking.

"Duh. That's why I'm inviting you." He opened the door and gestured for me to go. "I like this music too, though I wouldn't tell anyone about it!"

I shook my head. "Weirdo."

It took half an hour to get to the concert. I left a note for Cole, telling him I was okay and I didn't want him to follow me. He wouldn't know where to look for me, anyway.

When we got to the steps of the hall (which shouldn't have been called a hall, because it was friggin' huge), Lance stepped behind me and put his hands over my eyes.

"What the hell?" I snapped.

"It's a surprise!" he said, and started to guide me into the hall. "And it's funner this way!"

I grumbled, but didn't make a move to stop him. I was a bit excited, I'll admit, but annoyed all the same. He carefully led me through the crowd, whom I was sure was staring at us like we were idiots, and eventually brought us to our seats.

"Show's about to start," Lance said. "Just hold on 'til then."

_I'm gonna kick your ass pretty soon…_

I heard someone take the stage as the rustling in the crowd and on the stage died down. I heard a _tink tink!_ sound on a piece of metal, and then it went dead silent. Suddenly, there was some sort of guitar playing a tune I was all-too familiar with, and then the entire auditorium (or "hall", as they insist on calling it) filled with methodical music, peaceful and powerful.

"Woah…" I muttered. Lance took that as his queue to take his hands off of my eyes.

I was listening to Nara, by E.S. Posthumus, live! I couldn't help but watch in awe as the symphony merged together and didn't miss a single beat.

"I figured you'd like it," Lance whispered. "I mean, this is _never_ on the radio."

I nodded. "Good guess."

He shrugged. "I can read people pretty well, though you kinda escape me." I looked at him, confused. "If you're not angry, your face is totally unreadable. This is really the first time I've seen you stunned like this. And I'll bet a hundred bucks that I couldn't sneak up on you to save my life, besides when I catch you a second after you wake up. You looked pretty tired when I broke in."

I nodded again, and we both continued to listen to the song in silence. They played tons more, like Ebla and Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata (modified, of course). I really, really, really loved that concert. And it was my first one, too! Off to a good start, eh?

Lance and I were walking back to his car later, after a good majority of the people who'd come to watch left. We didn't want to get stuck in traffic, so we hung out, talking about which songs were best, when the instruments gave us goosebumps, and when the choir had come out, scaring everyone (it turned out they were all hiding in the audience until a song came up where they needed to sing, so when some people behind Lance and I started to sing in deep voices we'd both jumped about ten feet in the air).

Anyway, we were walking back to Lance's car when I noticed some people converging on our position, fast. They were wearing black, and tried to look as casual as possible.

I almost turned my fire on, but then I realized that Lance was still with me, talking to me. What about? Hell, I dunno. I tuned-out when we got to something boring. I wasn't sure if Lance was one of the people who hated or loved Conduits, since we'd never talked about it, and I wanted to keep my Conduit powers secret so I could live normally, at least for a bit.

"People coming," I whispered, interrupting whatever he was saying. "Seven o' clock, five o' clock, and one o' clock."

He smiled. "Don't worry, Joan," he whispered back. "I've got it covered."

When we reached his car, the three following us were about four metres away from us. I went over to the other side of the car as if nothing was wrong.

"Hey!" one of them said. "Can you help us out? We're a bit lost!"

Lance smiled casually at the two standing beside him and the one standing beside me. "Certainly! Whatcha lookin' for?"

"We're lookin' for some entertainment," one answered, looking at me.

"Well, you guys missed the show. There's probably another one on tomorrow, though!" I replied. "It's really good!"

The one beside me chuckled. "Not that kind, sweetheart."

He reached for my shoulder, but I casually brushed it away, smiling sweetly. "Touch me and die."

One of the guys beside Lance laughed at his friend. "Oh wow, man! Red's got fire!"

_You don't know the half of it…_

Lance put a hand on the guy's shoulder. "C'mon, guys. We don't have to do this! How 'bout I buy us all some drinks, huh?"

"Naw, I like this better," the guy replied, and grabbed Lance's wrist.

Lance reacted quickly as the guy twisted his wrist. Lance punched him in the face, then wrapped his free arm around his neck and pulled the guy down, and then connected his knee with the guy's face. The guy released Lance's wrist as he fell to the ground.

The guy beside me reached for my waist. I hit him in the nose with the heel of my hand, breaking his nose instantly. I brought my knee up and hit him in the male "soft spot", and while he screamed from the pain I jumped up and roundhouse-kicked him in the head, sending him sprawling to the ground.

Lance was blocking blows from the last guy, who was quickly tiring himself out. I slid over the hood of the car and jumped onto his back, wrapping my arm around his neck. He tried to get me off by pulling my arm away from his neck, but he failed at that. So, he smashed my back against the car. I cried out, not expecting just how much it had hurt. It'd jarred my guts, too, so it was pretty effective against me.

I released him and managed to land on my feet, but shakily. He grabbed my throat, smashing me against the car violently.

"Bitch! You'll pay for that!" he hissed. Lance tapped his shoulder, so he turned to look at him. "What?"

"Say hello to Mr. Fist, you bastard." Lance pulled his arm back and punched him so hard in the face I was sure it'd be concave for the rest of his miserable life. He fell to the ground, holding his face. Lance stepped on his chest (like the Captain Morgan liquor bottles, really) and glared at him. "Don't get up."

Lance stepped on him as hard as he could, knocking his breath out of his system. I held my throat and rubbed him, taking in as much air as I dared.

"You okay?" he asked, checking my neck.

I nodded. "Y-Yeah, fine," I replied. "Your hand…"

He just seemed to notice the blood that covered it. "Wow. Talk about a thick skull, huh?"

I took my messenger bag off of my back (half-wishing that I'd brought my nodachi along) and looked inside. "Here, gimme your hand."

He brought his hand closer. "But—."

I grabbed some disinfectant and bandages. "Gimme your hand or I'm chopping it off."

"And that's supposed to encourage me to give you my hand, how?" he asked.

I glared at him, and he reluctantly gave me his hand. I quickly put the disinfectant on and had his wounded hand wrapped up in no time at all. He examined it quietly, and when he was satisfied, he smiled.

"Where'd you learn to do that?" he asked me as we got into the car.

I hesitated. "I used to get in a lot of fights. When I was wounded, I would usually treat myself."

"Really?"

I nodded. "The good old days."

"What happened?"

I looked at my hands, which had recently started fidgeting. "Um… Well…" I shook my head. "I don't want to talk about it."

Lance looked at me for about ten seconds, before he shrugged. "Okay. I know when I should stop pressing." He moved his attention back to the road. "But if you ever feel like talking about it, you know I'm here."

I suddenly found my breathing difficult, but ignored it. "Okay."

When we stopped at a red light, he got out a piece of paper and wrote on it. "Here," he said, handing it to me. "My number and my address. Just in case."

I took it and nodded. "Okay," I repeated.

When we finally reached my place, I opened the door almost too fast. I hesitated for a second, wondering what to say.

"Uh… Thanks, Lance," I eventually said. "I had a fun time."

"No problem!" he replied, as if I didn't sound at all nervous. "Let's do it again another time! Minus the creeps at the end, of course."

I couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, okay."

When I got inside my apartment, I collapsed onto my bed. _Geez… What is it with that guy that makes me want to kick his butt and let him live at the same time?_ I grasped my heart, which had recently started to hammer. _I don't like this feeling. It's… confusing._


	8. Ignorance

Chapter Seven:

Ignorance

"Where were you?" Cole demanded.

I groggily looked up from my bed. "Eh?"

"Where were you last night?"

"Oh." I yawned and collapsed back onto my pillow. "Out."

"I noticed that much," he said, coming over to sit on my bed.

"You came into my house without knocking…"

"You gave me a key. I'm allowed." Cole sighed. "Jo, I was worried."

I took in a deep breath. "I went out with a friend."

"You have a friend?"

I glared at Cole. "Yeah. Shocking, isn't it?" I sat up and rubbed my eyes. "We went to a concert. No biggy."

"You're not gonna tell me anything other than that, are you?"

"Not a chance."

Cole got up and paced for a second. "Well, I was wondering, since it's your day off, if you wanted to go on patrol with me?"

"Sounds good," I replied. "Just lemme get changed. I'll be out in two seconds."

He smiled. "Okay. I'll wait on the roof."

I got into my usual outfit, nodachi and all, and met Cole on the roof within five minutes. He leaped off of the roof and used his Lightning Tether to propel himself towards another building. I jumped off after him and set myself on fire, following him rapidly. He finally reached a cable and balanced himself on it, then set off, skating across the cable. I matched his speed and followed closely.

"So, why don't your clothes burn off when you set yourself on fire?" Cole asked, raising his voice because of the wind.

I shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe for the same reason your clothes don't catch fire when your lightning runs across it."

"That makes sense," he replied. "Hey, you don't sound weird when you talk!"

"Eh?" I looked at him, confused, and then I remembered. "Oh, right! I sounded like a demon when I you saw me in this form last time!"

"Yeah, it was kinda creepy." Cole used his Lightning Tether to jump to a building as the cable ended. He climbed the rest of the way up, and I just rolled onto the building, shutting my fire off.

"What is it?" I asked as he peered over the edge.

"See Flood Town?" he asked.

I looked where he was looking. "Yeah. What about it?"

"The Ice People are on the move. But why?" He paused.

I realized he wanted me to take a guess. "You really like the dramatic stuff, don't you?" I asked, smirking.

"I've taken a liking to it." Cole charged up his Lightning Tether. "Let's move. We have to see what they're up to!"

I followed without hesitation. Cole could have been a leader of some sort if he was just a normal person; maybe a Senator or even become the President! But I could tell that he liked his role as the protector of New Marias, and the world, much better.

We followed the Ice People for a time, keeping out of sight and watching for any others that might pop out. We were careful, and rewarded for it. We eventually stopped on a rooftop overlooking a base full of Ice People. They seemed to be making plans of some sort…

"Cole, you still have that camera, right?" I asked, having seen him show it to Zeke a few times.

"Yeah." Cole took the hint and took a few pictures of the Ice People. I took a few with my cell, just in case. "There, I got some good ones."

We checked the pictures on his camera. "It looks like they're planning an assault… on the Militia!"

Cole nodded. "Yeah, I recognize that part of the map. That's definitely Militia territory that I haven't cleared yet."

"Now, do we stand by and watch? They'll most likely be taking that part for themselves, so should we attack both factions in the confusion?"

He grinned. "Oh yeah."

About two hours later, we were hiding in a building in the area that the Ice People were going to attack, while avoiding the Militia. Seeing the guys with the machine-guns made my stomach churn uneasily, reminding me that I was no longer almost invulnerable. If anything, I had to keep that fire shield up and always watch my back. No matter what.

Finally, the Ice People came. They surprised the Militia, and gained the upper-hand easily.

Cole nodded to me, and I nodded back. It was time. We burst out of the building and attacked everyone in sight, sometimes combining our powers to give 'em something to cry about. We worked together easily, as if we'd rehearsed it. It didn't take long for Lucy to join us, either. She dropped in from the sky and created a gigantic ice crater, which I decided was one of her newer powers.

"Cole!" she called.

I saw them combine their powers, freezing several Militia. The Ice People were jumping around and avoiding our attacks expertly, but we'd get 'em eventually. I leaped into the air and met one in mid-jump. I smirked, and clamped my hands onto his face, smashing him into the ground.

Suddenly, I got a vision of Alden, and what I'd done to him. I'd tortured him with my fire, fascinated by the burn marks. I shook that image out of my head and focused on the Ice Person I had in my hands. He hit me in the gut with the butt of his gun, jarring my insides, so I burned him.

As soon as I did, I got off of him like he had the plague. He was knocked-out, but I didn't want to look at him again. I shut my eyes tight, willing the image of Alden to leave, but it wasn't listening.

"Joan!"

My eyes flew open, and I turned to see who had called my name, only to see Ice People speeding towards me. One grabbed me around the waist and bounded off, and I was immediately farther from Cole than I wanted to be.

"Get. Off. Of. Me!" I snarled, and lit myself on fire.

The Ice Person dropped me instantly, but I didn't catch myself. I hit the water with a great splash that reached almost where I had been dropped, and realized that they'd gotten me all the way to Flood Town before I'd set myself on fire.

I crawled onto the junk pile and stood to face the Ice People who surrounded me. They attacked, not with their guns, but with melee. I had suddenly become too tired to resist, and allowed them to hit me.

_I deserve it!_ I thought as their guns beat me relentlessly. _For what I did to Alden! To Sasha! For killing the Militia! For killing their friends! For killing those DARPA agents!_ I fell to the ground, but their beating continued. _I deserve every bit of this…_

The Ice People suddenly stopped and backed away. I heard their guns loading, and realized that it was really, truly, my death that I was hearing.

And just like that, they shot. The bullets sunk deep into my body, from nearly all directions, as their revenge was complete. I lay there, listening to them as they leaped back to the real fighting, in a pool of my blood, expecting to feel the cold of death coming for me.

_Do I really want to live? Do I? Or do I deserve to die for this? For what I've done? _I clenched my fist. _I feel so… weak. I need to make a decision, and I need to act on it. Do I live? Or do I die?_


	9. Protector

Chapter Eight:

Protector

It had been raining for a good half an hour. I limped through the streets, my eyesight blurry, my breath raspy, and my blood pouring from my wounds. I hadn't even reached for my nodachi, seeing as there was no reason to, but knowing it was there helped me.

My cell phone had been lost. It had been shot, and gone through it into me. Cole couldn't contact me, or I him.

I coughed up some blood and fell to the ground. I was out of Flood Town, but I wasn't sure of anything other than that. I held my left shoulder, tightening my grip as if I could squeeze the pain away.

It didn't take long for me to fall… again. I forced myself up, trying to ignore the pain by gritting my teeth. I needed help, but where could I go? Who could I trust? I didn't even know where I was!

I saw a house at the end of the street, facing me with the lights on. I just stared at it for the longest time before I headed towards it. I saw shadows inside, moving around like they didn't have a care in the world, and I was just about to shatter that.

_I'll apologize later. I need help!_ I pushed onward, forcing my aching and bullet-ridden body to move. Every step was a little piece of agony until I reached the door.

I raised my right arm, ready to knock on the door, but hesitated. I squeezed my eyes shut, wondering if I was really making the right choice by knocking on a stranger's door. Without warning, I started swaying, and fell into the door, knocking it with my head. My eyes closed just as the door was opened, and I collapsed into their house, my body half in, half out of it.

I don't even know how long I was out. All I knew was that I had been freezing for one second, and warm the next. I would sometimes try to move, try to get away from whatever was around me, but I was always unsuccessful.

I was being haunted by dreams. Memories, really. First of Alden, and how I'd tortured him, then Sasha, and how I'd wanted to torture her, and then it went into the memories that existed in the far reaches of my mind.

I saw Kessler, hood down, a little older than Cole, but not so old that it was apparent. I could almost feel the pain of my blood being drained from my body, as it was replaced by some sort of red liquid similar to how blood was, but it looked more like magma. I saw Kessler a few times, jumping in-between times from when he looked young, to when he looked old, and felt that hate of him boiling inside of me every time I saw that superior smirk on his face. It was vivid, yet foggy. I couldn't keep up.

And then I saw me, but I looked different. Firstly, my colour scheme was totally opposite. Where there was supposed to be black on my clothes, there was white, and vice-versa. She had midnight-black hair, the same colour as her eyes, and Kessler's superior smirk. She held out her palm, and black fire erupted from it. I saw her—me, toss the fireball at a building and laugh as it fell, crumbling into dust and killing all inside, or around it. Finally, Kessler came into my head once more, flickering in-between the image of who I knew Kessler to be, white hood, metal hand and all, and Cole MacGrath, as he appeared in New Marias.

_**"You're the Vessel,"**_ they said at the same time. _**"You're the Vessel, Kayce. You will bring destruction to the world, and put the Beast to shame by doing so."**_

"No!" I tried to run, but I was rooted to the spot.

Kessler and Cole separated. Cole grabbed one of my arms, and Kessler the other, and they started to pull me apart. I screamed as loudly as I could, but that didn't stop them.

"Cole!" I yelled. "Cole, stop! _Please_!"

He didn't listen. Finally, it felt as if I'd been ripped in half, which it seemed as I looked at Kessler, who was holding the black-eyed, smirking version of me. I gasped, trying to get air into my system, but felt nothing.

_**"I'm going to take New Marias for myself,"**_ she said. _**"And I'm going to show these pathetic humans the reason that they should fear us! I'll show them what the real definition of 'monster' is! And your precious Cole will bow at my feet, or die!"**_

"No!" Why couldn't I move? I needed to stop her! But…

My heart suddenly skipped a few times. "Joan!" I heard my name being called. "Joan!" I sucked in another breath, and suddenly, everything became black.

I gasped and sat up, my eyes wild from fear. I could feel the sweat on my forehead from the dream. And then I felt the pain of my wounds, and laid back down. I looked to my side and saw someone I didn't really expect to see.

"L-Lance?" I exclaimed as best I could (my voice was weak).

He waved lamely. "Hey, Joan."

I put my hands on my face, covering it. "Ugh… What the hell am I doing here…?"

"You kinda collapsed inside," he said matter-of-factly. "Do you get shot often, or somethin'?"

I groaned automatically. "Sometimes. I don't even know how the hell I got here! I barely even glanced at the piece of paper you gave me!"

I heard a knock on the door, and guess who came in?

Who else but Helen?

"You're up?" she asked, holding a tray in her hands.

I looked from Lance to Helen. "Oh God. Don't tell me…"

"She's my mom," Lance said, stating my worst fears.

I think I froze in place. I couldn't find any words for a solid minute.

"I brought some soup, in case you were hungry," Helen said, holding the tray up a bit higher.

I hung my head. "I'm sorry for troubling you with my wounds again, Ms. Grey."

"It's no problem. I'm a doctor, remember?" She smiled and placed the tray on the bedside table. "You've been out for several days, almost a week. I managed to get those bullets out of you, but you'd lost a lot of blood, and your heart was starting to stop, so I had to put adrenaline into your heart until I got back from my clinic with Cole's blood."

"Adrenaline?"

She nodded. "That's a last resort, but I decided it needed to be done."

Lance frowned. "You were having nightmares the entire time you were asleep. You kept saying weird things…"

"What'd I say?" I asked, almost too quickly.

Lance ignored it. "You kept saying stuff like, 'Cole', or 'I'm not Kayce', and 'Kessler'. One time, you even said, 'I won't let you kill them!'. It was pretty strange."

I gripped the sheets tightly. "Oh? Really, huh?"

"Are you okay, Joan?" Lance prodded. "If you need to talk, I'm here."

I felt my face become hot, and I wondered if it was on fire, but there wasn't really a reaction from the two in the room.

"I-I don't really—."

"You at least owe us an explanation, Joan," Lance continued.

"Lance…" Helen murmured.

He ignored her. "Joan, I can tell that something was bothering you. Please, tell me!"

"I can't…"

Lance was getting ready to say something else when someone else came to the door, panting and looking like he hadn't slept in days.

Cole.

"Joan…" He came over to the bed and sat on it, hugging me tightly. "Oh God, Joan…"

I cringed at the pain, but hugged back. Cole noticed and released me, his eyes full of the concern I was so used to seeing.

"I wish I could heal you," he said.

"I wish you could too, but it ain't gonna happen." I remembered that Cole had once tried to heal Alec, but hurt Alec instead of helping him. We decided it'd be best if he didn't heal any one of us. Conduits, I mean.

"Helen called me and told me where you were," he explained. "She told me that you'd been out for a few days, and since I wasn't listed in the phonebook it was hard to reach me, but she got a hold of me a few minutes ago." He took a breath. "I tried to look for you. Lucy was in trouble, so I had to help her first, but I couldn't find you after. You didn't answer your cell, and I just…"

I squeezed his shoulder. "I'm all right, Cole. Seriously though, Lucy's gotcha whipped. You were caring before, but man! Now its like you're gonna cry!"

"I'm not gonna cry, you stupid walking lighter."

"Sure, light bulb. Sure."

He chuckled. Lance looked at us two and tilted his head.

"You know Cole MacGrath?" he asked me.

I turned to him and nodded. "Yeah. Long story, but we're good friends."

"Good friends, or _good_ _friends_?" he asked, adding the emphasis.

I glared at him. "Just friends, Lance. Seriously."

Was it just me, or did he look kinda relieved…? "Oh. Well, that's still cool. Cole MacGrath, chillin' in my house!"

Cole looked at Lance. "Are you the friend who went to the concert with Joan?"

Lance nodded. "Yep."

"_She's_ the one who helped you with those thugs?" Helen exclaimed.

"Thugs? _Joan_…" Cole's head slowly turned to me, the frown apparent on his face.

"It was no biggy! Really!" I said, holding my hands up in defence. "It was unavoidable!"

Cole sighed. "Fine. Just as long as you're safe."

I smiled and playfully punched his arm. "Hey, I've been back from the dead once. Who's to say I can't do it a second time?" I whispered so only he could hear.

"That's what I'm afraid of," he whispered back, and then he let his voice return to its normal volume. "Well, you'd better eat. Helen, do you want me to move her after she's done? I don't want us to be imposing…"

"It's not imposing at all! Really!" Helen smiled playfully. "It's nice to see Lance doing something other than sulking all day. Now he always comes to sit by Joan, and plays music in here."

"Really?" Cole and I both exclaimed.

Lance looked at the ground, finding a sudden interest in his socks. "Sometimes…" he said, his face turning a bit pink.

My face suddenly started to get hot again. _Ugh! I hate this feeling! Can't it just go away?_

"Well, I need her to be safe while she recovers," Cole said, getting off of the bed and standing by Helen. "If she goes home, she'll try her best to get outta there and wander. Keep her in here, and force her to get better if you need to."

"Oh, don't worry. I'll make sure she does," Helen assured him. "Go and save the world. I've got this."

Cole nodded, and glanced at me one last time. "You get better, Joan. Don't make me suck the juice out of your T.V. again."

"Touch my T.V. and die, you stupid, over-sized light bulb!" I snapped, and then cringed again.

"Don't overreact! You'll get hurt!" Lance warned, holding his hands up as if trying to figure out how to touch me without me punching him in the face. "Just eat something, 'kay?"

Cole left, smiling. I frowned. "Okay," I agreed. "Just touch me and die."

I saw Helen smile as she left the room as well. _What is it with them? Smiling like that? _I wondered. _They must be on ecstasy or somethin'._


	10. Games

Chapter Nine:

Games

"Turn left," I instructed. "No not that far. Turn right a bit—no, not there. For God sakes, Lance! It's the friggin' huge door in front of you! Just go inside it!"

"But there're Dark Jedi behind there…" he whined.

I grabbed the controller out of his hand. "Here! This is how you do it!" I opened the door and faced-off against three Dark Jedi Acolytes, quickly kicking their asses. "There! Now go over to that control panel and make the custom Jedi robes."

He took the controller out of my hand and did as he was told, and then opened the cylinder that held his new robes.

"Woah! So _that's_ how you get Star Forge robes!" he exclaimed, quickly equipping them to his character.

"I can't believe you didn't know where they were…" I muttered. "I mean, this is Knights of the Old Republic, one of the most classic Star Wars games ever to grace the planet, and you don't know how the hell to save Bastila from the Dark Side! C'mon, I play this all the time!"

"Well, you're a nerd at this, and I'm not."

I brought my fist down on his head. "_What_ did you call me?"

He rubbed his head. "Geez, you're violent! You'd think that since you're injured, you'd take it easy!"

"Hell no!" I crossed my arms, fuming. Only two days ago I'd woken up, and Helen said I was making a miraculous recovery. So it was enough to let me out of bed and hang out with Lance in the living room. "Hey, your mom said you played music while I was asleep…"

He stiffened. "Yeah?"

"Well, why?"

He focused on the video game. "I… well, I hoped it would help with the nightmares…"

"Oh."

We sat there in silence for a bit before Lance broke it. "Why'd Cole call you a lighter?"

"My temper!" I answered, a bit too quickly.

"And how d'ya know him?"

I twiddled my thumbs as the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. "We were friends back in Empire City."

"So how'd you end up here?"

"What is this; twenty questions?" I snapped.

"I'm curious about you!" Lance said, grinning. Every bit of tension left the air as soon as he did that. "My mom told me that she treated you for bullet wounds before, and your blood loss. I remember what she said about you, when I wasn't allowed in that room, because she was afraid I'd screw everything up." He cleared his throat, mashing several buttons on the controller as he met up with Bastila. "She said that you were the most stubborn person she'd ever treated. She said you wouldn't die, even with all the blood that left your body, and the bullets inside of you."

"Cool," I muttered.

"And I was wondering, where'd you get that sword?"

I froze up. "Uh… Cole gave it to me…" It wasn't a lie, seeing as in Empire City Dana wanted him to have the nodachi, but he was fine with his powers. And now that he had the AMP, I was sure he didn't want it. "It was a present…"

"I wish I could get a weapon for a present!" Lance exclaimed.

"Use Force Lightning," I advised quickly.

He listened. "Thanks."

We watched Bastila get angry at Revan for beating her, and then realizing that she couldn't come back to the Light Side.

"Okay, now what do I do?" Lance asked as the dialogue options came up.

"How high is your persuade skill?" I asked.

"Pretty high."

I pointed to option number one. "Then that one."

"Which one?"

"That one!"

"What does it say? There're two persuade options!"

"I love you!"

He paused, and I just realized how that sounded. Ever seen those shows where a character says something stupid, the world falls apart and the character falls into an abyss? That was how I felt.

"I-It says I love you," I explained. "You have to… uh, pick that option."

Lance picked option one silently.

_**"You… love me? Heh… I… There was a time when I yearned for and yet dreaded to hear those words. I loved you, too, but I could never… face who you were. Malak knew how I felt. Any part of the light that was within me would be extinguished when I killed you. But what good is love? It cannot save me from the sea of blackness I am drowning in. I have betrayed everything I ever believed in! How can I atone for that?"**_

I sucked in a breath. "Now, pick option one again."

The familiar beep of the selected option rang through the speakers as Lance listened to me again.

_**"Yes, I… could join you in your battle against the Dark Lord. That alone would not make up for all I have done, yet… it would be a step in the right direction. But how would you be able to trust me? How do you know I wouldn't betray you when you faced Darth Malak? How do you know the Dark Side wouldn't make me betray you again?"**_

"Option one again."

Lance nodded, shifting his position slightly on the couch, leaning a tiny bit closer to me. I didn't know whether to back-off or stay, for fear of doing something wrong. _But what…?_

_**"You play a dangerous game. Are you certain you wish to take this risk? I could end your life and gain Malak's favour in a single stroke of my lightsaber."**_

He looked at me, asking silently if option one was right again, and I nodded.

_**"You are brave… and some would say foolish. But you are also right. The Dark Side has not wholly consumed me. I cannot raise my blade against you. You will go on to defeat Malak, of this I have little doubt. You will have gone from being the Sith Lord himself, to the saviour of out galaxy. And… and you said you loved me. This may not be the best time to say it, but… I love you, too. With all my heart."**_

Lance picked the only available option, which happened to be one.

_**"After this? No, nothing could make me feel safer than to be loved by you. You should go. Malak awaits. This isn't over yet… for any of us. I should stay here, though. If we face Malak I am afraid his dark presence will overwhelm me. It would not be wise to expose myself to such temptation."**_

Lance almost pressed option one. "Woah, there!" I exclaimed. "This time it's option two!"

He smirked and pressed option two.

_**"Yes, that would be for the best. You don't need me to defeat Malak, anyway. Now I understand that a true Jedi is a match for any Sith. Even the Dark Lord himself. I will stay here in this chamber and use my Battle Meditation to aid the Republic fleet. I am their only hope of destroying the Star Forge and ending the Sith menace. You must go and face Malak, but you have to hurry. Once I turn the battle in the Republic's favour we won't have much time left to escape the Star Forge before it is destroyed. Good luck, my love… and may the Force be with you."**_

A few awkward seconds later, Lance glanced up at me. "You play this game all the time, huh?"

"Yes, but I'm a female Revan hitting on Carth Onasi. Deal with it."

"Isn't the male Revan cannon?"

I groaned. "Yes, he is, but Carth's funny to talk to. I get to insult him."

"You enjoy insulting people, don't you?"

I grinned. "Do you have to ask?"

Lance poked my arm. "I heard that girls insult people they like."

"Yeah? Then I must just love the Militia and the Ice People, huh?"

"So that's why you keep getting hurt! You just can't leave well enough alone, can ya?"

"It's no fun if I do."

"But you'll have your body intact," Lance pointed out.

I shrugged. "Lance, pay attention. Malak's kicking your ass."

Lance's eyes widened and he quickly returned to the game. "Why'd he have to be so friggin' strong…?"

"If you use your Master Power Attack a few times, then you'll bring down his health a ton," I advised. "Then use the Force a few times. Just make sure he doesn't go for those suspended Jedi, and you'll be fine."

He nodded. "I got it!"

"You better, because I'm not fighting this battle for you!"

"Pfft! I don't need you to fight this battle! I got this!"

"Sure, sure."

I watched Lance play for a few more minutes before he was running around stabbing medpacs into his thigh. I laughed at him whenever Malak got close, because he would shriek and start running again.

_Oh man. This is just too funny! Thank God that real battle aren't like this!_ I thought, laughing as Lance ran out of medpacs.


	11. Ambushed

Chapter Ten:

Ambushed

Over the next two days, Lance and I grew close. We would laugh and joke with each other, and he would know when I was pissed and either back-off, catch my punches or get hit. I learned that, even though he's a music sensation, he wanted to live peacefully, without the bother of fangirls around. I guess having me around lifted a weight off of his shoulders, since he finally had someone to talk to that didn't constantly fawn over him.

Cole would check in regularly, asking how I was holding up. I would always say I was fine, and that he didn't need to worry. But, being Cole, he would continue to worry.

I was still shaken about that dream I'd had. Dana had once told me that Kessler used to call me his favourite "Vessel", but I didn't know why that word kept popping up into my head. Plus, it freaked me right the hell out to see another "me", but she looked just plain demented.

One night, I was leaning on the railing of Lance's house's deck's balcony (everything has ownership over something, huh?), looking at the stars. It was nice to see that the recent cloudy weather had passed.

"Hey, what're you doin' up?" Lance asked, yawning and coming to join me at the balcony. He was wearing his PJ's, which consisted of an old T-shirt and good shorts.

I was in my casual wear, but minus the nodachi. "Just chillin'."

"I noticed." Lance leaned against the balcony. "Are you almost feelin' better?"

"Yep." I cleared my throat. "Um… Thanks. For everything."

He waved it off. "Hey, no prob. I help violent half-dead girls all the time."

I frowned. "Me, violent? Geez, you got the wrong person."

"Naw, I think I got it right."

I playfully punched him in the shoulder. He laughed and hit back, so I laughed and hit him. This continued on for at least two minutes, and then it got a teeny bit competitive.

By the time we were done, I was fuming and Lance was holding me back by putting his hand on my forehead while I tried to hit his shoulder. Lance yawned, and whether-or-not it was real, I didn't really know.

"I give up!" I eventually said, throwing my hands into the air. "You're Goddamn annoying!"

"That's what I'm here for!" Lance replied. "And anyway, you helped me with that game, and it'd been giving me grief ever since I bought it. I think you've paid me back, so you shouldn't feel indebted or anything."

"Okay." I sighed. "Well, it'd be best if I went back to my apartment now. I'm sure Cole called into work and said that I'd been tortured by the Militia or something half-believable to explain how long I've been away."

"Why only half-believable?" Lance asked.

"If it was totally believable, my co-workers or my boss'd wanna come visit me, right?" I grinned. "Anyway, thank-you. I'll see you around, okay?"

He nodded, and then put a hand on my shoulder. "Remember, if you need anyone to talk to, you should come to me."

I froze my, my body going totally stiff under his touch.

"And there's another thing I figured out about you," he said, grinning. "You don't mind touching people, but as soon as somebody touches you, you freeze up like this. It's almost like you're afraid you're gonna blow up if someone touches you!"

Lance, I don't think you've ever been more right… I grabbed his hand and thrust it back to his side. "Lance, I _would_ like to talk to you about something…"

"Really?" he exclaimed. "Oh man! I have to mark this on my calendar! 'The day Joan came out of her shell'!"

"You know what? I'm not _gonna_ talk about it now!" I fumed, turning away from him and heading for the door.

"No! Hey, c'mon! I was just kidding around!"

I took a breath and looked at him, but didn't see what I expected. Sure, I saw Lance, grinning like an idiot, but behind him was—.

"Lance! Get down!" I lunged at him, pinning him to the ground as a gigantic tongue whipped out of a Devourer's mouth. We scrambled to our feet. "Get inside!" I ordered. "Now!"

He grabbed my hand and pulled me inside as its tongue whipped out again. We managed to get out of the way, but the Devourer's tongue snagged Lance's T.V.

"Hey! That was a lot of money, you overgrown—!"

"Now's not the time for that!" I cut in. "Get your mom and get out of the house _now_!"

"But—!"

"I said _now_!"

Lance took-off, heading for his mother's room. I grabbed my nodachi from off of the kitchen table and ran outside with them, only to meet an army of Corrupted. I drew my nodachi slowly, Lance casting a wary glance at me.

"You're not actually gonna _use_ that thing, are you?" he exclaimed.

"Unless you want me to let us die, then shut it!" I replied, flicking my wrist for the flames to come on. "Stay close!"

The Devourer roared and clambered around the house, causing massive destruction in its wake. The Corrupted screeched, and Hive Lords appeared on the rooftops, glaring down at us.

_There're too many!_ I thought frantically. _Cole should be here soon, but I'm not sure if I can protect us for long!_ I glanced at Lance, who was getting into the stance I'd recognized him using when fighting those thugs. Why am I so afraid to use my flames around him? Am I afraid I'm gonna blow up again?

A Corrupted caught my attention. I lunged at me, its mouth separating so many different ways I didn't bother to count. It sliced its blades at me, but I blocked and twisted, stabbing it in the stomach. Lance had found a pipe and was beating off any Corrupted that got too close. I saw a Corrupted sneaking up on him and lunged at it, stabbing it through the head. Blood mostly got on me, but it also splattered over Lance and Helen. The poor woman screeched in disgust.

"Lance! Get your mother outta here!" I told him, slicing up another few Corrupted.

"What about you?" he asked over the screeching of the monsters.

I gave him a shove. "Don't worry about that! I'm telling you to get her out of here before she faints, dammit!"

Lance definitely didn't like leaving me alone, I could tell that much, but he complied. He grabbed Helen's hand and led her away from the Corrupted. They let them get away; they were too focused on me. Several Corrupted jumped on me at once, and I really had to push to get 'em off of me, but I won that round. The Devourer's tongue came out a few times, but I'd side-step just in time and it would eat one of the Corrupted instead. The Hive Lords were busy making little bugs that were so friggin' annoying.

Lance was throwing rocks at them, screaming at me to get away from them, but I tuned him out—until one of his rocks hit my head.

"Aim for _them_, you idiot!" I snapped, my attention shifting to him.

"Joan! Look out!"

I felt something grab me around the waist. I didn't have to look to know it was the Devourer's tongue. It knocked me form my feet and pulled me to its mouth, and as I entered I stabbed my nodachi inside of it so the Devourer couldn't bite down. So, instead, I was swallowed whole.

_Oh, goody._

So, while I was trying to hold my breath and get past its guts, I could hear it screaming, which was enough to piss me right the hell off and give me a headache.

"That's _it_!" I yelled, and activated my fire.

I burned the Devourer from the inside out, its screaming increasing drastically. I put my hands on the roof of its stomach and felt my fire leave my hands in short bursts, ripping through it. Finally, the Devourer exploded from the inside, its guts and blood spraying everywhere, while its armour shot several different ways at once and at an incredible distance. While I regained my breath (by breathing in cool, non-toxic air), I put my hand up and caught my falling nodachi.

"I'm gonna kill every last one of you!" I yelled, and charged at them.

The Corrupted lunged at me, and if I didn't slice 'em up they were burnt to a crisp. I dodged a few attacks, but got cut on the face in the process. They managed to tick my arms a bit, but I'd always make them regret it.

I swept my nodachi upwards, catching two Corrupted and sending them into the air. I jumped up and met them in the air, and as I flew by them I grabbed their heads and flipped in the air, changing my momentum around and smashing their skulls into the ground.

The Hive Lords (I counted five) jumped off of the roofs and surrounded me. "You wanna die too?" I asked. They roared in response. "Fine! Bring it!"

One Hive Lord was skidding towards me, while two were coming at me from the sides, one was above me, while the last was making more little bugs. I upped my flames until they were maxed-out, and waited for them to come a little bit closer before I released my fire. Just like when I'd been facing Sasha the last time, a pillar of fire came from the sky and surrounded me, engulfing the four Hive Lords coming at me and turning them to ash.

I managed to stay standing by leaning on my nodachi, but my strength had left me. I saw the last Hive Lord and angrily tossed my nodachi at it, but it fell short and missed. The Hive Lord screeched at me as I struggled to keep steady and stand.

"Hey! Bug-eye!"

The Hive Lord looked up, and was crushed by Cole's drop attack. Cole quickly leaped off of the Hive Lord and came to me, allowing me to use him to steady myself.

"Geezus… Joan, what the hell happened?" he asked as he checked my handiwork.

"It was an ambush," I replied. "I don't even know how they managed to sneak up on me…"

Cole stooped and picked up my nodachi. "You're covered in blood! I don't even know what's yours! And…" He made a face. "You stink!"

"Yeah? Well, getting digested by that Devourer didn't exactly make me smell like roses, if ya didn't notice."

"Hey, where's Lance? And Helen?"

I shrugged. "Dunno. I told Lance to get outta here, and he was bringing his mom along, but then he came back and was throwing rocks, and now I don't know _where_ he is."

I heard the shifting of debris and looked to where the sound was coming from. Lance moved a piece of the Devourer's metal plate off of himself and his mother, helping her up to her feet.

"Are you guys okay?" I asked, managing to come to their side (with Cole's help).

Lance nodded. "I-I think so."

Helen pointed to where the bottom-half of the Devourer was lying. "We saw that monster grab you, Joan! And then it exploded, and that metal piece flew at us!"

Lance flexed his hand. "I punched it to slow it down, but it landed on top of us and hurt my hand!"

"You… punched it…?" I felt like facepalming myself. _It figures you would punch it, you idiot…_

Cole grinned. "I can see the indent. Nice hit!"

"I think I may have broken a few bones…" Lance muttered. "That really hurt!"

"If you broke your hand, you wouldn't be able to move it." Cole put my nodachi back in its sheath as I spoke to Lance. "Now, we need to get outta here. Lance, Helen, you can stay at my apartment. Lance knows where it is. I'll stay with Cole."

The two nodded in agreement.


	12. Talk

Chapter Eleven:

Talk

I had more nightmares. I'd fallen asleep from exhaustion before Cole and I reached his rooftop, and he was forced to carry me. Embarrassing? Yes. But there wasn't really any other way to get me to the rooftop, was there?

I had more images of Kessler and that demented version of me, and some other guy who was wearing nothing but black, and a bell hood that perfectly covered his face. I woke up constantly during the night, only to fall back asleep almost immediately.

When I finally woke up (and managed to stay awake), it was noon the next day. I had all of my energy back, but my wounds hurt and I was still drenched in blood.

"Hey," Lucy greeted as she saw me sit up on the couch.

"Mornin'," I replied. "Well, as close to it as you can get, really…"

Lucy smiled. "Yeah, I guess." We were silent for a bit before Lucy sucked in a breath. "So, does Lance and his mother know that you're a Conduit?"

"Nope," I replied. "I kinda wanna keep 'em out of it."

Lucy came to sit beside me. "You know, if you keep them out of it, they'll find out eventually. It's inevitable, and it always happens. They might feel a bit betrayed that you didn't tell them."

"Look, Lucy, I know you're tryin' to help, but no matter how I rationalize this, I always wonder if they'll end up being the people who avoided me instead of clapped me on the back when I lived in Empire City."

"So… You're afraid they'll see you as a freak?"

I hesitantly nodded.

"Hey, I had to walk in the front doors of the NSA to announce my resignation," she said, chuckling. "How do you think I felt? I had to watch as the people I thought were my friends either avoid me, ignore me, or actually tell me how cool I was." She sighed happily. "But those people, Lance and Helen, I mean, they accepted Cole. Why shouldn't they accept you?"

"That's just it—they accepted Cole because he saved everyone's life. Me? I've only blown up a DARPA base that had nothing to do with them."

"They're your friends, Joan," Lucy pointed out. "They'll accept you for who—and what—you are. The good must always come with the bad, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I guess."

"You know, Helen and Lance are here having coffee inside…"

I sighed. "You invited them, didn't you?"

"Cole did."

I'll murder him brutally later. "Fine. I'll talk to them."

Lucy smiled as I got to the stairs and walked down, trying to put my story together. How exactly do you just come out and say, "Oh, by the way, I have powers kinda like Cole"? Seems simple, but the trick is to ease people into it and find the right words doing so.

Lance and Helen were talking with Zeke and Cole, joking about something. When I came in, Lance grinned and Helen smiled at me.

"Hey!" Lance said. "You look like crap!"

I came over and hit him upside the head. "Great greeting, idiot."

Helen chuckled. "What he means to say is, are you okay?"

"Fine," I replied, taking a seat at the table they were sitting at. "But I need to talk to you guys."

"About what?" Lance asked.

I glanced at Cole, who got the message. "Hey, Zeke. Let's give 'em some privacy."

"Huh?" Zeke looked at my serious expression. "Oh, uh… right. Okay, brother. Lead the way!"

When they'd left, I released a relieved breath and turned to the remaining two at the table.

"It's about me," I told them.

"Isn't everything about you…?" Lance asked.

I nearly drew my nodachi, but Helen beat me in… well, beating him.

"Manners!" she scolded, and then turned to me. I remembered how she'd kinda scared me when we'd first met, and immediately pitied Lance.

"It's about me and my past," I said. "I trust you guys, and I want you to trust me, but that would've been impossible if I decided not to tell you about myself."

Lance gave me a questioning look. "What do you mean…?"

I sighed and leaned back in my seat. "You know who Kessler, Sasha and Alden are, right?"

They nodded.

"Good," I said. "That'll save us time. You see, it all started after the Blast in Empire City. I woke up in a hospital bed, with a Doctor hovering over me. I didn't give it much thought though—I only knew that something was wrong with me. And then a few days later, the same Doctor came in and announced that I had amnesia, which explained a lot, considering I didn't remember a thing before the Blast. I was forced to name myself and guess my age, so I named myself 'Joan'. I didn't know where I'd heard that name before; I only knew that I liked it. I found an apartment in the Warren District, and would occasionally run into the odd Reaper, but one time, I saw two Reapers terrorizing people, and so I made the decision to help them. I think that choice is what set me on this path, because what I did changed my life…"

A few seconds after I'd finished speaking (about an hour and a half after I'd started), Lance, Helen and I were caught in a semi-awkward silence.

"So…" Lance murmured, "what you're saying is; you have superpowers kinda like Cole?"

I nodded. "Kinda."

"And you beat up Sasha and Alden, going crazy on Alden once?"

"Only once. It was weird."

"Not to mention that you made friends with a shadow Conduit, was betrayed by your friend Ben and your half-sister Dana, who both turned out to be DARPA agents tasked with watching you, and you blew up a DARPA facility to let your friends get away, because you'd been shot three times with quicksilver bullets which are your weakness?"

"Well, now I'm pretty sure its all types of bullets, since I don't have my healing factor anymore. Pretty inconvenient."

"And to top it all off; you're Kessler's daughter, who happens to be Cole from some sort of alternate timeline, who forced you to become a fire Conduit and named you Kayce, and helped Dana plan your 'escape' just before the Blast—which was caused by Cole—and your powers were heavily augmented because you were caught in the Blast?"

I nodded. "Yep. That about sums it up."

Helen shook her head. "You forgot the part where her fire turned from red to silver, and her eyes used to be green."

"Yeah—that too."

I stretched and took a few sips from my hot chocolate. "So, there you have it."

Lance frowned, then started laughing. "I'd be more inclined to believe you if I had proof!"

I held out my palm on the table and activated my fire, but only so it rested in my palm.

"I'll bet it's a hologram!" Lance continued, unfazed. "There're all sorts of special effects around these days!"

"Touch it, and we'll see," I told him.

He shook his head. "Or it could be fire being coloured and activated by a miniature flamethrower!"

I looked at his mother. "How many times did you drop him on his head as a baby?"

"One too many, it seems," she replied, shaking her head sadly.

I sighed and shut my fire off. "Come up to the roof then. I'll show you."

They followed me up, Lance snickering too much for me to be comfortable with. With every step my feet got heavier, but I pressed onward.

When we finally reached the roof, Cole, Zeke and Lucy looked at us.

"How'd it go?" Lucy asked.

"Lance doesn't believe me," I replied, frowning. "So I'm gonna show him properly."

"And how're you going to do that?" Zeke asked.

I stepped to the edge of the roof. "The funnest way I know how."

Lance grabbed my wrist. "Woah there! Suicide isn't the answer, Joan!"

I shook him off and turned to face him, the heels of my shoes over the edge. "Chill, dude. I've got it covered."

"Um, you're about to walk off of a seven story building. I don't think that's covered."

I laughed. "Oh, wow. You're pretty observant, aren't you?" I started to fall backwards. "Don't worry."

Lance reached for me, but too late. I fell a few stories before I activated my fire and started to fly. It felt nice to feel the wind again. I flew up to the roof and hovered casually, crossing my arms.

"Proof enough?" I asked.

He shook his head in disbelief. "Special effects, special effects…"

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." I deactivated my fire and landed gracefully on the roof. "Now, I need to change clothes and go for a shower. Dried blood is really hard to get out." I hit Lance softly on the head as I went past. "Now you know why I didn't want to talk about it."

It didn't take long for me to shower. I got dressed fairly quickly, wearing nearly the exact same outfit (it doesn't hurt to have spares, does it?), and drying my hair with a towel.

Lance seemed to think it was weird that I dried my hair with a towel. "There's such a thing as blow-dryers," he chided, smirking.

I frowned at him. "It kills hair."

"I didn't know you cared about your hair so much."

"I don't. I would just rather keep my hair and not have bald spots."

Lance grinned. "Why don't you just use your 'fire'?"

"It has the same effect, idiot," I replied dryly. "Are you so dense that you don't believe me?"

He shrugged. "I guess its just hard for me to accept that my best friend has superpowers, and had been protecting me from monsters only yesterday."

"It isn't that hard, actually…"

I sat on the floor ahead of the couch. I liked to lean against couches, but not sit on them. I was weird like that (and ten billion other ways).

Lance sat behind me. "Here—lemme dry it."

"No," I said flatly.

"C'mon! I'll be careful!" I could almost see his puppy-eyed look.

I frowned. "… Fine."

He released the towel, and he quickly took over. It was weird and strange, but it somehow felt… nice. Lance started to hum Dead Reckoning by Clint Mansell, and I couldn't help but smile.

"Does drying my hair really require dramatic action music?" I asked.

"Of course it does!" Lance exclaimed. "Girls never let guys near their hair!"

"Then doesn't this count in the 'victory' category?"

He paused. "You're right!"

And just like that, he started humming the Indiana Jones theme. I was pretty sure it didn't fit into that category, but I wasn't about to correct him. He'd probably just hum something stupid next.

"So…" I eventually said, as the towel went over my eyes. "If you're such a big musician, why haven't you worked on any songs lately?"

"I have," he replied. "But I don't like working in California. When I lived there, separate from my mom, fangirls would hound her until she gave them my number. I didn't really like that, so we moved to New Marias, hoping for a fresh start, but continuing my music career. At least this way I can make sure my mom's safe from the extremists." He sighed. "And what about your mom?"

I shrugged. "When I talked to Dana about it the first time, she said our mother was dead. And when I talked to her a second time, she said she was alive. I don't know if she is or not, but she probably wouldn't want to see me. I was the 'necessary' child after-all. Just another sick science experiment for Kessler."

"I don't think you're a sick science experiment," Lance said quietly. "I mean, sometimes you _do_ act like you've been in a cage all your life, but other than that you're not."

I almost punched him, but resisted. "Thanks, I think."

"I guess you're welcome."

I chuckled. "As much as I say it already, I still think you're a bit of an idiot."

"Why do you say that?" Lance asked. "You haven't even seen my IQ! It's pretty high!"

I shook my head. "You're sitting on a wet spot. You look like you peed."


	13. Surprise

Chapter Twelve:

Surprise

Lance eventually accepted that I had superpowers. We spent more time together than we did with our own parents (or parent), which ticked them off a bit. Lance poked fun at me about my powers every once-in-a-while, but quickly learned that it was best not to piss me off, especially now that I didn't have to hide my powers from him.

I was fired from work. I'd spent too much time away, and they weren't willing to re-hire me because "I'd been captured by the Militia". As far as Vic was concerned, I could've escaped and come to work. Yay, me.

So, I ended up patrolling around the city much more, always coming home at six to meet up with Lance and we'd do something together, whether he brought video games for me to complete for him or we watched a movie. Zeke would pop in every now-and-then to check up on things, but would leave just as quickly.

"You know," Lance said one night as we watched _Enemy at the Gates_, "I should help you."

I glanced at him from my seat on the floor. He was sitting on the couch again, just above me you could say. "What'dya mean?"

"I could help with your patrolling," Lance answered.

"I'd rather you not," I said, focusing back on the movie. "Your not a Conduit and its my fault you're involved in this. If you even try it, I'm dragging you back to California by your ears and feeding you to the ravenous fangirls there."

"That's cold," Lance said. "But it's really my fault."

"Really?"

"Yep."

I chuckled. "Well, enlighten me."

"I shall!" Lance dramatically cleared his throat. "I broke into your house and asked you out, remember?"

"You didn't ask me out. That was to repay for my poor, poor door."

"I totally asked you out!" Lance exclaimed. "It was a date!"

"It was not!" I snapped. "It was nothing like that!"

Lance grinned. "What, are you afraid of dates or something?"

"Of course not!"

He gasped. "You haven't actually been on a date, have you?"

I snapped my mouth shut and watched the movie.

"You haven't! My God, Joan MacGrath hasn't been on a date!"

"Does it really matter? I see no reason to!"

He ruffled my hair. "Well, as your best friend, it's my solemn and regretful duty to be the first one to ask you out."

"Regretful? What the hell's that supposed to mean?" I fumed. "No, I'm not going out with you! Not even once! And you're not helping with my patrolling! You can't do what I can do, and you could get hurt, you idiot!"

He shrugged. "Fine, I won't help you."

I sighed in relief. "Thank you." I was about to look back at the movie when Lance grabbed my chin with his hand and forced me to look up at him.

"But I'm not giving up on that date."

I rolled my eyes. "Way to make the movie feel awkward for the rest of the night."

"What can I say? I'm a pro!" he said, releasing my chin.

"You only _think_ you're a pro," I grumbled.

When the movie was over and Lance had gone home, Cole called me to the roof. I was dragging my feet up there, wondering where I could go to get another job, so I didn't notice the mischievous grin on his face when I reached the open roof of the building.

"I've got a surprise for you!" he said.

"Oh?" I asked lamely. "If it solves my job problems, I'm all ears."

Lucy smiled. "Well, it kind of does."

I gave them a questioning look and leaned against the doorway. "What's with the smiles…?"

"We want you to move in with us," Cole explained. "I feel responsible for you, since you're technically my daughter, and so I feel like I should keep an eye on you."

"You thought I was fine in Empire City."

Cole nodded. "Yeah, well… the reason I wanna keep an eye on you here is because…"

I waved my hand in a "hurry up!" motion. "Because…?"

Zeke burst through the door, flinging me onto my face. "Joan!" he exclaimed, looking for me.

"Down here…" I grumbled, glaring at him.

"Oh! Hey, sorry 'bout that…" Zeke helped me to my feet. "I just wanted t' congratulate ya!"

"On what?" I asked. My head slowly and deliberately turned towards Cole. "_Cole_…"

Cole glared at Zeke, who put his hands up in defence. "Hey, sorry man! I didn't know thatcha didn't tell 'er yet!"

"Curse your need for dramatics! What the hell haven't you told me?"

Cole rubbed the back of his head. "I, um… enrolled you in high school."

"You _what_?"

"Well, you've been incapacitated for most of your life, and you barely hang out with anyone other than Lance… Not to mention that you really need to learn how to get along with people, and you need an education before people ask questions…"

I glared at him. "_Cole_…"

"Woah, careful man!" Zeke warned. "Smoke's about t' come outta her ears!"

Lucy put her arms around my shoulders. As cold as her hands were, Cole told me that they'd been a lot colder when she'd first got her Conduit powers. "Think about it, Joan! You can't get a good job without an education, and without a job you can't pay for any place to live in! Plus, an eighteen-year-old girl living alone with no job is bound to raise some questions!"

I nodded slowly, my temper going down. "I… I guess you're right…"

"Great! So, you'll move in with us, and you can go to high school until you graduate!" Lucy said, clapping her hands together. "We've signed you under the name Joan 'Foster', so you'll have to remember that!"

I nodded again.

Cole picked up a package from the couch, looking grateful that I hadn't torn his face off. "Here."

I opened it up without the enthusiasm I knew I was lacking. "It's… a uniform."

"And an ugly one at that!" Zeke exclaimed. "Is this the best they could do?"

"You're tellin' me…"

The uniform had a brown jacket, a white shirt, a green plaid tie, and the same colour pants and skirt.

"I didn't know which one you'd want…" Cole admitted.

I took one look at the skirt and answered, "Pants."


	14. School

Chapter Thirteen:

School

"This sucks," I muttered, staring up at New Marias "Academy for the Gifted". "I don't know _how_ Lucy convinced me. Kessler educated me when I… er, 'lived' with him."

Cole nodded. "This feels so weird."

"I'm the one in the horrible uniform," I said, frowning. "Why's it weird to you?"

"I feel like I'm giving my daughter away to her first day of school…"

The look on my face was probably indescribable. Or just a mixture of shocked/stunned/weirded out/horror. Like I said: indescribable.

"Okay, Cole, lemme give ya some advice that'll help you out with those feelings…" I cleared my throat. "Number one: I may be your daughter, but I'm eighteen and you're, like, in your mid-twenties or somethin'. Number two: I'm gonna be home right after school, no doubt screaming that it's a horrible place and I should just be out patrolling with you. And lastly, number three: this technically _is_ my first day of school. Live it up, and let go of my shoulder. You're crushing it."

Cole released me immediately. "Sorry…" He rubbed the back of his head. "Well, have a nice day then, Joan."

I nodded. "One more thing, Cole; you should take Lucy out for something to eat. You guys haven't been on a date in a while."

He grinned. "I'll do that. I'll just tell all the muggings and bombs in New Marias to go on hold for a bit, 'kay?"

"Sounds good." I patted him on the head. "I'll see ya after school!"

As I walked away, Cole called after me, "Kicking and screaming!"

"Right!"

Now, I'll need to give you an accurate description of this place: the New Marias Academy for the Gifted is a private high school for only the best of the best. The "gifted". I automatically fit into that category because having Conduit powers totally counts (in Cole's mind, at least. Don't ask me how he's paying for this, because I have no idea in _hell_). It's a huge old building that, amazingly enough, was _not_ _touched_ _at_ _all_ by the Ice People (Vermaak 88, but it's so much easier calling them Ice People), the Militia, or the Corrupted. What is with _all_ major baddies _never_ touching the schools, the things that all teenagers _hate_?

This place has had a history as an academy in New Marias for years, spawning several stuck-up senators, lawyers, world leaders, etc. The kids here are just mini-versions of those guys.

How do I know this? I just walked into the school, for God sakes!

Well, just ask my friend—dialogue.

"My father's just bought the hotel near the square!" a creepy blonde boy exclaimed to his friends. "There's much more business there!"

I think I facepalmed myself. I didn't even notice, but suddenly my head hurt. I frowned at them, but I might as well've been an ant. They didn't so much as glance or even _breathe_ in my direction.

I shook my head. _A bunch of spoiled rich kids who think they're the shit… Well, who friggin' gives a crap about 'em?_ I sighed. Already two seconds at school and I was really disliking it. _I'll definitely be kicking and screaming when I get back to Cole's…_

"Hey!"

I froze, my eyes widening in utter horror. Very, very slowly, I turned in the direction of the call, hoping that it wasn't who I thought it was.

But, then again, this is me. I'm either really lucky (like living after exploding myself), or really unlucky (like now).

"Joan!" Lance called, grinning like an idiot and bringing too much attention to himself.

I spun on my heel and continued into the school. _They did this on purpose! Cole and Lucy…! Ugh! I'm gonna friggin' murder them! _

So, as I believed Cole and Lucy had planned, Lance and I were in all the same classes. Damn them. Lance had offered to show me around the school, but relinquished his offer when I asked if he could take me to the bell tower to hang myself.

Everyone here knew Lance Grey as the famous musician, and he did nothing to stop them from fawning over him. It was absolutely disgusting. I was gagging. Seriously. Just another way for them to gain social status, I guess.

Well, the bell rang and we all had to get to our first class. I followed Lance to English, staying well behind him as a crowd of five girls started clinging to him, fawning over him, and giggling at the things he said. And here comes my gagging…

When we finally got to our seats, just as the second bell rang, I made sure to sit as far as humanly possible away from Lance, who was still surrounded by the giggling gaggle of girls. He kept looking at me in the corner, but I crossed my arms and rested my head on my desk, blanking out and ignoring him.

"Settle down, kids," the teacher, Mr. Nordstrom, said _so_ enthusiastically. "We've got a new student today."

Oh, goody. He seems in a great mood to introduce me.

He read his clipboard. "Joan Foster…?"

I yawned.

He looked at me in the corner. "Are you going to stand up and introduce yourself?"

"You just said my name. Is there a point?" I replied, sitting up.

"It'll help the class to get to know you better," he said, motioning for me to stand up for the class. "Just say your name and where you're from, and we can get on with English."

I sighed and stood up. "My name's Joan Foster, and I'm from Empire City."

There was silence throughout the room. I could tell that everyone in the class probably thought I'd been one of the lucky ones to escape the Beast. Well, everybody but Lance, of course. The truth was; I guess I _was_ one of the lucky ones.

Mr. Nordstrom cleared his throat. "Erm… Miss Foster? Why are you wearing the boys' uniform?"

I shrugged. "It's tons more comfortable, and I hate skirts."

He seemed like he didn't want to argue. "Very well. Sit, and we'll begin class."

I sat back down, ignoring the pitied stares I got from everyone. _Just a few hours. Just a few hours. Don't snap on your first day!_

When English was over, we went to History, and then Science before lunch. I decided to sit alone, ditching Lance before he could catch me in class. It's not like I hate the guy! It's just he has all those other girls; might as well let him hang out with them, since they seemed so desperate.

I'd bought my lunch, which consisted of a cheeseburger and fries, with pop. I think that brightened my day up about three-million percent. So, as I was sitting alone, reviewing my notes and frowning at my handwriting (it looked like chicken-scratch), I somehow didn't notice Lance's gaggle of girls sneak up behind me.

"Hello, Joan!" their leader (the one who was front and centre. Kinda obvious) greeted a little too cheerfully. "My name's Gwen. This is Mandy—." She pointed to the girls on her right. "—and Jennie. And this is—." She pointed to her left. "Annie and Carly." She smirked at me. "We wanted to properly welcome you to the Academy for the Gifted!"

"Thanks," I muttered, not doing any more than barely glancing at them.

They seemed stunned for a second, and then sat at my table. "Well, we kinda wanted to talk to you, Joan…"

"Then talk," I replied, taking a quick drink and returning to my notes.

Gwen cleared her throat, her blonde curls bouncing on her shoulders. "I was wondering how you know Lance, because all he ever does is talk about _you_…"

I laughed, finally giving her my attention. "Wow, high school _is_ really like all the movies I've seen and books I've read…" I mumbled.

"What's so funny?" Mandy snapped.

"High school," I replied, smiling. "It's cliché. Now, to answer your question; Lance and I are just friends."

"Are you gonna stay that way?" Jennie asked excitedly.

One of my eyebrows rose. "Way to get to the point." I shrugged. "I hope. There's no way I'd date _that_ idiot."

Gwen slammed her hands on the table and stood up, looming over me. "Lance Grey is _not_ an idiot!"

"Then you don't know him as well as I do."

With an embarrassing amount of pride, Gwen grabbed a card out of her purse and held it in front of my face. "I know everything about him! I am the _president_ of his fan club!"

In an annoyed tone, I'd recited her last line with her, having seen it in every movie and every book. She glared at me, eyes full of daggers.

"Okay, look," I said, standing up to be at eye-level with her. "It's my first day. If I get into a major fight on my first day, it'll look bad at home. So go and do your make-up or something."

She reminded me _so_ much of Sasha it wasn't even funny. "Just because everyone you knew died in Empire City doesn't mean you're a charity-case!"

"Pfft! Everyone I know's alive. Well, except for one. I'm not quite sure about him. But I'm no charity case. I can get by on my own quite well, blondie."

"I see the way you look at him!" Gwen spat, jabbing me with a well-manicured finger (which I wanted to break). "You're practically fawning over him! And those eyes! Those contacts suck!"

I sighed. "Well, last I checked, I wasn't the one unbuttoning my shirt as I groped desperately for his arm." I grinned. "And by the way, these're very real. Check; they're not contacts."

Gwen came around and examined my eye. She pulled my eyelids apart to get a better look, and I managed to see her other hand carefully going behind her back. Quickly, she pulled her hand away from my face and brought two fingers from her other hand towards my eyes.

I grabbed her wrist and twisted it, unflinching. She cried out, getting as much attention as possible.

"I'll let go if you never come near me again," I told her sweetly, tightening my grip until she couldn't cry out.

I felt a hand on my shoulder instantly. "Joan, let 'er go."

I sighed. "Fine." When I'd released her, I turned to look at Lance. "Probably for the best, before I fly off the handle."

He nodded, smiling. "I wouldn't wanna see that!"

Gwen rubbed her wrist, trying to look like a helpless doe. "Oh, Lance! You came to my rescue!"

I rolled my eyes with extra emphasis.

"You shouldn't have picked a fight with Joan," Lance told her, frowning. "She'd kick your ass."

"It's so nice to know you care!"

I hated girls like this. Gwen made me want to stab myself repeatedly just so I could get her perky voice outta my head. And her drama… well, let's just say she'll never see Hollywood.

Lance grabbed my notebook and put it on my food tray, then picked it up and came over to me. "C'mon, Joan. You're gonna sit with me today."

"But I sit with you every night!" I complained, taking my tray from his hands.

"Well, you're doing it again!" I frowned as he started to grin, and then he wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "C'mon! It'll be fun!"

"This is uncomfortable," I said bluntly as he led me away from the gaggle.

"I'm actually quite comfortable," he replied.

I shrugged his arm off. "I have a jacket to keep warm. I don't need your arm."

"_Sure_ you don't." If I didn't have that tray in my hands, I woulda hit him! "Idiot," I muttered, resulting to my obvious alternative.

"Believe me," Lance said as we sat down at his table with all of his stuck-up rich friends, "you're gonna need me to survive _this_ ordeal."

I shook my head. "I can't believe I've got to rely on you. Of all people!"

Lance grabbed his heart dramatically. "Oh, Joan! You wound me!"

"Whatever."


	15. Enemy

Chapter Fourteen:

Enemy

So, finally, after several weeks of the hell everyone knows as "high school", I seemed to almost fit in. I hate to admit it, but Lance was a big help with that. And, believe-it-or-not, Cole and I finally found out why the Militia were still so organized. Well, that's summed-up in four words:

Joseph Bertrand the fourth.

Because all major villains have their sons take over their family business. It really sucks to be me right now…

It was the weekend. Cole, Lucy and I were mapping out the territory that the Militia were keenest on taking from us. There was a heavy and solemn air around us, as we knew that this new Bertrand would try to stop us at any cost, since he was one of the few who knew who—or what—the original Bertrand really was; a giant Corrupted called the Behemoth. Named for its massive size, if you didn't know. Compensating for something, huh?

"He's most likely to try to take Bertrand's original base of operations," Cole said, pointing to the cathedral on the map. "All his dad's stuff is still there."

"And we didn't get rid of it, _why_?" I asked, frowning.

"We were too busy monitoring the Corrupted and our Vermaak 88 friends," Lucy answered. "Cole, I don't think he'll go for the cathedral. Look at this—." She pointed to Flood Town and part of the Swamp. "The Corrupted are almost wiped-out. They'll probably pick-off the last of them, and use this area as their base. They're strong enough to handle Vermaak 88 with minor casualties, so it shouldn't be a problem getting that area… _If_ we don't make it there in time."

"The Ice People aren't gonna give up that area without a fight," I added. "If that's really their goal, then the Ice People should hold them off long enough for us to get there. We have allies with some of the Ice People, so they should help until we get there, and then get the rest of the Ice People outta there." Cole looked at me strangely. "I know the Ice People are our enemies too," I told him, "but our major concern right now is Bertrand! We can make a common enemy, and possibly try to help the Ice People in the process."

Lucy nodded. "I agree with Joan. We can try to help them!"

Cole's brow furrowed. "I… guess…" He studied the map a while longer. "Okay. Lucy, tell your contacts what's happening. Then get to the eastern entrance of Flood Town and keep in touch with me if you see them coming from over there. I'll go to the Southern entrance and do the same."

"And me?" I asked.

"Go to the cathedral. If it so happens that they go for their old base, call us and we'll meet you there as fast as we can." Cole pointed to the map. "This is the best view you'll get of the entire cathedral and its entrances. Yours is a stealth mission."

"What if they don't come to the cathedral?"

He rubbed his chin in thought. "Stay there just in case. We need to make sure that Flood Town won't just be a distraction."

I hesitantly nodded. "Okay. But if you guys get in trouble, call me."

Lucy nodded. "We will."

I was sitting on a building just beside the cathedral, watching the entrances with forced interest.

"He's doing this on purpose…" I muttered. "He doesn't want me fighting as much anymore…" I clenched my fist. "Ugh! I'm eighteen! For God sakes, I'm an adult! How come he's so overprotective? So what if he's technically my dad? He's just being so… so…! Ugh!"

I rubbed my eyes. Cole would do what he wanted, but me? No. For a second, I thought about going to Flood Town and helping Cole and Lucy, who were fighting the Militia already, no doubt.

But those thoughts quickly left as I saw a hooded figure slip out from the shadows and snuck into the cathedral. I leaped off of the building and landed gracefully, without a sound, in front of the cathedral. A little something I learned from Cole.

I slipped inside, quietly shutting the door behind me. The people hadn't reclaimed the cathedral yet, and so it was dark and desolate. I could hear the echo of footsteps not far from me, so I carefully made my way towards them. I heard the gasping of my target up ahead, almost like he'd been running.

I heard the footsteps suddenly stop, so I froze in my tracks. The figure lit a candle on top of the altar at the far end of the cathedral, and got on his knees.

"Forgive me, Lord, for my sins, and the sins of my father," he whispered hoarsely. "I beg your forgiveness, O Lord! Please, send me a sign that my family is forgiven for having a deviant within our family!"

I grinned. _Great. This guy's an idiot!_

"O Lord! Give me the strength to carry out the righteous task that has been set before me, by an Angel itself! Guide me, O Lord! I beg of you!"

I shook my head. _This guy's gone crazy. Just like his dad._ I was sure now that he was the new Bertrand.

"And please, Lord God, give your Angel my thanks!" Bertrand stood up. "Long live the Angel Kessler!" he cried. "Long live the Lord God!"

My eyes widened. Kessler? He must've gotten to this guy before Cole killed him…

I came up from behind him. "What d'you know about Kessler?"

He spun around, startled. His hood covered his face, and he wore all black. "I-It's you!" he gasped, and then he relaxed. "Good. This will make my job much easier. The Angel Kessler shall be avenged!"

"Angel? Oh, please. That guy was nothing more than scum." Bertrand took a step towards me, but I held up a hand. "Uh, uh, uh. Not so close, buddy. One more step and I fry you."

Bertrand laughed. "Try it, deviant."

"Okay." I activated my fire and ran at him, intending to slam my hand into his face and smash him into the altar.

No such luck.

Bertrand whipped out a small device, no larger than a dagger, and punched at my chest. I hardly expected it to hurt. But no, it felt like agony. My attack stopped short as I realized how far Bertrand's arm was inside of me. It hadn't come out the back, so what the hell was going on?

"You, Kayce, are the Vessel!" Bertrand sneered as I tried to cope with the pain. "And I am the Messiah!"

I felt like he grabbed hold of something in my body, and he ripped his arm, and it, out of my body. I closed my eyes and fell to the ground, somehow too weak to move. My eyes started to close, but not before I glimpsed what Bertrand had with him.

"I-Impossible…!" I tried to scream, but the only thing that came out of my mouth was a tiny whimper.

I stared into the pitless black eyes of myself, smirking. _**"Oh, it's very possible,"**_ she said, and I blacked out.


	16. Epilogue

Chapter Fifteen:

Epilogue

Cole MacGrath swung his AMP and hit a Militia machine-gunner for the last time. He panted and slid the AMP back into the holster on his backpack.

"We made it," Cole gasped as he took a breather. "Where do they get all these guys?"

Lucy Kuo came up beside him and sat down. "I don't know," she replied. "But at least we got them all."

Cole nodded. "Yeah, but…"

"But they had no supplies with them. They were a diversion."

Cole nodded again. "Then that means that they're headed for the cathedral!"

"I'm going ahead," Lucy said. "You catch your breath and hurry. We have to help Joan!"

Lucy left before Cole could argue. As soon as he'd gotten his breathing back to normal, he used his Lightning Tether to quickly catch up with Lucy.

"Knowing her, she probably wouldn't have called us, even _if_ she was in over her head!" Lucy said as she started running beside Cole.

"Yeah. But she'd still let us know if an army of Militia came there," Cole replied. "Something's not right.

Lucy nodded. "I'm getting a bad feeling. We should hurry!"

Cole agreed readily and ran flat-out, using his Lightning Tether when needed and using the ice powers he'd gotten from Kuo to jump when it was too far for his Lightning Tether.

When the two finally reached the cathedral, they kicked the doors open, only to find a single candle lit on the altar, and a figure standing before it.

"Joan!" Cole exclaimed. "We got worried when we found out that we only fought a diversion. How're things here?"

_**"Fine,"**_ she replied curtly.

One of Lucy's eyebrows shot up. "Um… Joan? Are you okay? Your voice seems a little… off." She chuckled. "Did all that shouting finally come back for revenge?"

_**"I'm fine," **_she said again. _**"But you're wrong about one thing…"**_

She turned to them, all of the candles in the cathedral suddenly lighting up. There on the altar laid Joan, eyes closed and arms lying at her sides. But she was breathing. The person who stood before them, however, looked exactly like Joan, but she had midnight-black hair, eyes that were even darker, and the colour scheme for her outfit was the complete opposite of Joan's.

"_**I'm not Joan,"**_ she told them, smirking. She lit her arms on fire, but the colour was black, not silver. _**"I'm Kayce. And I'm here to destroy you, Cole. In the name of my father, Kessler."**_

To Be Continued… 


End file.
